Improved flame-retardant properties of polydimethylsiloxane/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites
- PDF / 6,065,516 Bytes
- 20 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 50 Downloads / 183 Views
Improved flame-retardant properties of polydimethylsiloxane/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites Imrana I. Kabir1,* , Yifeng Fu1 , Nicolas de Souza2 , Muhammad Tariq Nazir1 Juan Carlos Baena1 , Anthony Chun Yin Yuen1 , and Guan Heng Yeoh1,2
1 2
,
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, Sydney, NSW 2232, Australia
Received: 18 June 2020
ABSTRACT
Accepted: 25 September 2020
The flame-retardant properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/oxidised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT–COOH) nanocomposite films were dispersed using a nonionic acrylate copolymer surfactant. The nanocomposite films were prepared by spin coating and characterised using SEM, quasi-elastic cold-neutron scattering, TGA–FTIR, cone calorimetry, and LOI. The PDMS/surfactant/MWCNT–COOH (PSM) nanocomposite displayed superior flame-retardant performance compared to materials containing only surfactant or MWCNT–COOH. The peak heat release rate, the peak smoke production rate, total smoke release rate, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide production from PSM were 42, 47, 18, 28, and 47% less than the PDMS control. The LOI results for PSM exhibited a value of 32% with respect to 25% for the PDMS. PSM suppresses the smoke emission and inhibits penetration of the air reacting with the gas volatiles of the material. These new nanocomposites provide a valuable improvement in flame-retardant capabilities by physical barrier effect compared to other PDMS polymer materials.
Ó
Springer Science+Business
Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Handling Editor: Jaime Grunlan.
Address correspondence to E-mail: [email protected]
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05411-x
J Mater Sci
GRAPHIC ABSTRACT
Introduction Fire safety has become a priority for the building construction industry. Due to modern living habits, accidental fires are more likely to happen indoors rather than in open outdoor areas [1–4]. This becomes a significant issue for burning buildings and contents since hazardous particulates and volatile toxic compounds produced from the fire are contained within an enclosed space, endangering the health and lives of the occupants [4]. The need for improved flameretardant (FR) materials that produce less smoke and toxic gases, and burn more slowly than traditional FR materials, is crucial to increase the evacuation time for victims of accidental fires. Therefore, developing new materials for use in internal building elements such as walls, ceilings, floors, and other suitable surfaces and cavities is of great interest [4, 5]. Polymers are seeing increased attention in research, development, and commercial use as flameretardant materials. One such polymer is
polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which is thermally and chemically stable due to the strength of the Si–O bond present in the polymer backbone [6, 7]. Thus, PDMS has been extensively applied in a broad range of industries
Data Loading...
