Abstract
Nanocomposites of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) with three types of nanoparticles, namely layered organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT), tubular multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and spherical silica nanoparticles, were prepared by melt blending method. The influence of nanoparticle geometry on the thermal stability and flame retardancy of HIPS nanocomposites was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis, cone calorimeter method and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the presence of three types of nanoparticles with varying geometries does not change the degradation mechanism of the nanocomposites, but greatly decreases the heat release rate and mass loss rate of the materials due to the fire residue formed in the condensed phase. The layered structure of OMMT exhibits the best flame-retarded effect, and the tubular structure of MWNT obtains a weaker flame-retarded effect and the spherical structure of silica nanoparticles the weakest. The effectiveness of flammability reduction is varied with nanoparticle geometries due to the discrepancies in featured structures of fire residues formed in real fire conditions. The idealized models of the featured structures of fire residues from the nanocomposites studied are put forward to explain the flame-retardant mechanism of the nanoparticles with different geometries.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Laoutid F, Bonnaud LIL, Alexandre MEL, Lopez-Cuesta J, Dubois P. New prospects in flame retardant polymer materials: from fundamentals to nanocomposites. Mat Sci Eng R. 2009;63:100–25.
Zhang J, Zhang H. Study on the flammability of HIPS-montmorillonite nanocomposites prepared by static melt intercalation. J Fire Sci. 2005;23:193–208.
Wang P, Yang F, Cai Z. Synergistic effect of organo-montmorillonite and DOPO-based oligomer on improving the flame retardancy of epoxy thermoset. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2017;128:1429–41.
Rybiński P, Anyszka R, Imiela M, Siciński M, Gozdek T. Effect of modified graphene and carbon nanotubes on the thermal properties and flammability of elastomeric materials. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2017;127:2383–96.
Shen R, Hatanaka LC, Ahmed L, Agnew RJ, Mannan MS, Wang Q. Cone calorimeter analysis of flame retardant poly(methyl methacrylate)-silica nanocomposites. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2017;128:1443–51.
Costache MC, Heidecker MJ, Manias E, Camino G, Frache A, Beyer G, Gupta RK, Wilkie CA. The influence of carbon nanotubes, organically modified montmorillonites and layered double hydroxides on the thermal degradation and fire retardancy of polyethylene, ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer and polystyrene. Polymer. 2007;48:6532–45.
Isitman NA, Dogan M, Bayramli E, Kaynak C. The role of nanoparticle geometry in flame retardancy of polylactide nanocomposites containing aluminium phosphinate. Polym Degrad Stab. 2012;97:1285–96.
Dittrich B, Wartig K, Hofmann D, Mülhaupt R, Schartel B. The influence of layered, spherical, and tubular carbon nanomaterials’ concentration on the flame retardancy of polypropylene. Polym Compos. 2015;36:1230–41.
Cao L, Deng S, He Z, Lin Z, Li M, Zhang P, Li W. Effects of carbon nanotube on mechanical, crystallization, and electrical properties of binary blends of poly(phenylene sulfide) and polyphthalamide. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2016;125:927–34.
Yan L, Xu Z, Zhang J. Flame retardant and smoke suppression mechanism of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on high-impact polystyrene nanocomposites. Iran Polym J. 2016;25:623–33.
Dittrich B, Wartig K, Hofmann D, Mülhaupt R, Schartel B. Carbon black, multiwall carbon nanotubes, expanded graphite and functionalized graphene flame retarded polypropylene nanocomposites. Polym Adv Technol. 2013;24:916–26.
Sun J, Gu X, Zhang S, Coquelle M, Bourbigot S, Duquesne S, Casetta M. Improving the flame retardancy of polyamide 6 by incorporating hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene modified MWNT. Polym Adv Technol. 2014;25:1099–107.
Kashiwagi T, Du F, Douglas JF, Winey KI. Nanoparticle networks reduce the flammability of polymer nanocomposites. Nat Mater. 2005;4:928–33.
Schartel B, Pötschke P, Knoll U, Abdel-Goad M. Fire behaviour of polyamide 6/multiwall carbon nanotube nanocomposites. Eur Polym J. 2005;41:1061–70.
Liu J, Zhou K, Wen P, Wang B, Hu Y, Gui Z. The influence of multiple modified MMT on the thermal and fire behavior of poly(lactic acid) nanocomposites. Polym Adv Technol. 2015;26:626–34.
Rapacz-Kmita A, Gajek M, Dudek M, Stodolak-Zych E, Szaraniec B, Lach R. Thermal, structural and mechanical analysis of polymer/clay nanocomposites with controlled degradation. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2017;127:389–98.
Kiliaris P, Papaspyrides CD. Polymer/layered silicate (clay) nanocomposites: an overview of flame retardancy. Prog Polym Sci. 2010;35:902–58.
Schartel B, Bartholmai M, Knoll U. Some comments on the main fire retardancy mechanisms in polymer nanocomposites. Polym Adv Technol. 2006;17:772–7.
Wu GM, Schartel B, Bahr H, Kleemeier M, Yu D, Hartwig A. Experimental and quantitative assessment of flame retardancy by the shielding effect in layered silicate epoxy nanocomposites. Combust Flame. 2012;159:3616–23.
Zhang J, Bai M, Wang Y, Xiao F. Featured structures of fire residue of high-impact polystyrene/organically modified montmorillonite nanocomposites during burning. Fire Mater. 2012;36:661–70.
Salehi Vaziri H, Abadyan M, Nouri M, Omaraei IA, Sadredini Z, Ebrahimnia M. Investigation of the fracture mechanism and mechanical properties of polystyrene/silica nanocomposite in various silica contents. J Mater Sci. 2011;46:5628–38.
Lv H, Song S, Sun S, Ren L, Zhang H. Enhanced properties of poly(lactic acid) with silica nanoparticles. Polym Adv Technol. 2016;27:1156–63.
Yang F, Nelson GL. Polymer/silica nanocomposites prepared via extrusion. Polym Adv Technol. 2006;17:320–6.
Kashiwagi T, Morgan AB, Antonucci JM, VanLandingham MR, Harris RH, Awad WH, Shields JR. Thermal and flammability properties of a silica–poly(methylmethacrylate) nanocomposite. J Appl Polym Sci. 2003;89:2072–8.
Courtat J, Melis F, Taulemesse J, Bounor-Legare V, Sonnier R, Ferry L, Cassagnau P. Effect of phosphorous-modified silica on the flame retardancy of polypropylene based nanocomposites. Polym Degrad Stab. 2015;119:260–74.
Dittrich B, Wartig K, Hofmann D, Mülhaupt R, Schartel B. Flame retardancy through carbon nanomaterials: carbon black, multiwall nanotubes, expanded graphite, multi-layer graphene and graphene in polypropylene. Polym Degrad Stab. 2013;98:1495–505.
Li K, Hostikka S, Dai P, Li Y, Zhang H, Ji J. Charring shrinkage and cracking of fir during pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere and at different ambient pressures. Proc Combust Inst. 2017;36:3185–94.
Ren X, Zong R, Hu Y, Lo S, Stec AA, Hull TR. Investigation of thermal decomposition of polymer nanocomposites with different char residues. Polym Adv Technol. 2015;26:1027–33.
Wang Y, Zhang L, Yang Y, Cai X. Synergistic flame retardant effects and mechanisms of aluminum diethylphosphinate (AlPi) in combination with aluminum trihydrate (ATH) in UPR. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2016;125:839–48.
Makhlouf G, Hassan M, Nour M, Abdel-Monem YK, Abdelkhalik A. Evaluation of fire performance of linear low-density polyethylene containing novel intumescent flame retardant. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2017;. doi:10.1007/s10973-017-6418-x.
Schartel B, Weiß A. Temperature inside burning polymer specimens: pyrolysis zone and shielding. Fire Mater. 2009;34:217–35.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51676210), the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Central South University (No. 175828) and the Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2017M612587).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yan, L., Xu, Z. & Zhang, J. Influence of nanoparticle geometry on the thermal stability and flame retardancy of high-impact polystyrene nanocomposites. J Therm Anal Calorim 130, 1987–1996 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6514-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6514-y