Influence of POSS structure on the fire retardant properties of epoxy hybrid networks

Monofunctional Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes (POSS), differing in chemical structure, were introduced into an epoxy-amine formulation in order to obtain hybrid organic/inorganic epoxy networks. The process developed allows the POSS to be either covalently bonded to the network and organized in small amorphous domains, or completely dispersed in larger crystalline domains. Morphology, thermal and fire retardant properties were studied through electron microscopy, DSC, TGA, cone calorimeter experiments and UL94 tests. It was demonstrated that POSS nanoclusters induced an effective fire retardant effect, which was controlled by several factors. It was shown that POSS bearing phenyl ligands were far more effective than POSS with isobutyl ligands, and that the presence of a chemical linkage between the phenyl-based POSS clusters and the matrix favoured the dispersion of the nanoclusters, resulting in enhanced fire retardancy. The fire retardant effect was only slightly enhanced by increasing the amount of POSS nanoclusters.