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Nanoparticle networks reduce the flammability of polymer nanocomposites

Nature Materials volume 4, pages 928–933 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Synthetic polymeric materials are rapidly replacing more traditional inorganic materials, such as metals, and natural polymeric materials, such as wood. As these synthetic materials are flammable, they require modifications to decrease their flammability through the addition of flame-retardant compounds. Environmental regulation has restricted the use of some halogenated flame-retardant additives, initiating a search for alternative flame-retardant additives. Nanoparticle fillers are highly attractive for this purpose, because they can simultaneously improve both the physical and flammability properties of the polymer nanocomposite. We show that carbon nanotubes can surpass nanoclays as effective flame-retardant additives if they form a jammed network structure in the polymer matrix, such that the material as a whole behaves rheologically like a gel. We find this kind of network formation for a variety of highly extended carbon-based nanoparticles: single- and multiwalled nanotubes, as well as carbon nanofibres.

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Figure 1: Selected sequences of sample behaviour during gasification and the collected residues.
Figure 2: Effects of the nanoparticle type on mass loss rate.
Figure 3: Effects of the nanoparticle type and concentration on the viscoelastic measurements.
Figure 4: Effects of the nanoparticle type and concentration on mass loss rate and the configuration of the residues.
Figure 5: Relationships between normalized peak mass loss rate and normalized concentration of nanoparticles.
Figure 6: Effects of Mw of PMMA on mass loss rate.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Kharchenko of Masco Corporation for valuable discussion and Carbon Nanotechnologies Incorporated, Foster Miller Company for providing SWNTs and Sid Richardson Carbon Company for providing CBPs. T.K. acknowledges funding from NIST by 5D1022 and F.D. and K.I.W. acknowledge funding from the Office of Naval Research by ONR Grant N00014-03-1-0890. This is a publication of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the US Government, and by statute is not subject to copyright in the United States.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fire Research Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-8665, USA

    Takashi Kashiwagi, Richard H. Harris Jr & John R. Shields

  2. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-6272, USA

    Fangming Du & Karen I. Winey

  3. Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-8544, USA

    Jack F. Douglas

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  1. Takashi Kashiwagi
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Correspondence to Takashi Kashiwagi or Jack F. Douglas.

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Kashiwagi, T., Du, F., Douglas, J. et al. Nanoparticle networks reduce the flammability of polymer nanocomposites. Nature Mater 4, 928–933 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1502

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