Nanomorphology and reaction to fire of polyurethane and polyamide nanocomposites containing flame retardants

The reaction to fire of polymer nanocomposites (thermoplastic polyurethane and polyamide-6) containing two different nanofillers (organoclay and carbon nanotube) has been investigated. Polymer nanocomposites exhibit significant reduction of peak of heat release rate but the nanomorphology (exfoliation, intercalation and presence of tactoids) does not play any significant role, although a reasonable level of nanodispersion is necessary to achieve good flame retardancy in specific cases (mass loss calorimetry experiment). Modelling aspects for the time to ignition are also proposed in the paper. It is shown that the approach ‘nanocomposite’ gives the best results combined with conventional flame retardants (phosphinate and phosphate) and leads to synergistic effects. The aspects of nanodispersion of the nanoparticle with the flame retardant (microfiller) are fully commented in the paper using TEM and solid state NMR. Mechanisms of action are finally proposed explaining the synergy when conventional flame retardants are combined with nanoparticles.