Effect of a triazine ring‐containing charring agent on fire retardancy and thermal degradation of intumescent flame retardant epoxy resins

A triazine ring‐containing charring agent (PEPATA) was synthesized via the reaction between 2,6,7‐trioxa‐l‐phosphabicyclo‐[2.2.2]octane‐4‐methanol (PEPA) and cyanuric chloride. It was applied into intumescent flame retardant epoxy resins (IFR‐EP) as a charring agent. The effect of PEPATA on fire retardancy and thermal degradation behavior of IFR‐EP system was investigated by limited oxygen index (LOI), UL‐94 test, microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermogravimetric analysis/infrared spectrometry (TG‐IR). The glass transition temperatures (T_g) of IFR‐EP systems were studied by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The LOI values increased from 21.5 for neat epoxy resins (EPs) to 34.0 for IFR‐EP, demonstrating improved flame retardancy. The TGA curves showed that the amount of residue of IFR‐EP system was largely increased compared to that of neat EP at 700 °C. The new IFR‐EP system could apparently reduce the amount of decomposing products at higher temperatures and promotes the formation of carbonaceous charred layers that slowed down the degradation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.