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Fire reaction properties of polystyrene-based composites using hollow silica as synergistic agent

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Abstract

Hollow silica microsphere (h-SiO2) has been widely applied in the field of thermal insulation, catalyst supports and drug storage/delivery containers. In this research, h-SiO2 has been innovatively used as synergistic agent to enhance the flame retardancy of intumescent flame-retardant polystyrene. The synergistic effects of h-SiO2 on intumescent flame-retardant polystyrene have been studied by limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 test and cone calorimeter test (CCT). When 0.5 mass% h-SiO2 was substituted for the intumescent flame-retardant additive, the LOI of polystyrene composite (PS/IFR/Si0.5) increased by 5 units and the composite preserved the V-0 rating. Manipulation of parameters from CCT indicated that the peak heat release rate was reduced by 27% for the PS/IFR/Si0.5 composite, whereas the total heat release decreased by 14.5% and the ratio of residue increased by 85.6% (from 13.2 to 24.5%) compared to those of the composite without h-SiO2. The synergistic effects of h-SiO2 on intumescent flame-retardant polystyrene are attributed to physical and chemical processes in the condensed phase. The morphologies of charred layer after CCT proved that h-SiO2 induced compact charred layer with enhanced thermal and gas barrier effect, which in turn protected the inner matrix from combustion and decreased specific extinction area by 24.2%.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (YQ2019E030) and Foundation for Universities of Heilongjiang Province (LGYC2018JC032).

Funding

This study was funded by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (YQ2019E030) and Foundation for Universities of Heilongjiang Province (LGYC2018JC032).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin, 150040, China

    Yongliang Wang, Xiangfei Meng, Chunfeng Wang, Zhidong Han & Hu Shi

  2. Key Laboratory of Engineering Dielectrics and its Application, Ministry of Education, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin, 150040, China

    Zhidong Han

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  1. Yongliang Wang
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  2. Xiangfei Meng
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  3. Chunfeng Wang
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  5. Hu Shi
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. ZH finished the experimental design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by XM, HS and CW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by YW and XM.

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Correspondence to Yongliang Wang.

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Wang, Y., Meng, X., Wang, C. et al. Fire reaction properties of polystyrene-based composites using hollow silica as synergistic agent. J Therm Anal Calorim 146, 1679–1686 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10165-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10165-4

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