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Author
Gilman, J. W. | Kashiwagi, T. | Giannelis, E. P. | Manias, E. | Lomakin, S. M. | Lichtenhan, J. D. | Jones, P.
Title
Nanocomposites: Radiative Gasification and Vinyl Polymer Flammability.
Coporate
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards AFB, CA
Book or Conf
Fire Retardancy of Polymers: The Use of Intumescence. 6th European Meeting. (FRPM'97). Proceedings. Special Publication No. 224. Organised Jointly by the Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique et de Physico-Chimie des Solides' de l'E.N.S.C. de Lille and the Centre de Recherche et d'Etude des Procedes d'Ignifugation des Materiaux. September 24-26, 1997, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK, Lille, France, LeBras, M.; Camino, G.; Bourbigot, S.; Delobel, R., Editors, 203-221 p., 1998
Keywords
nanocomposites | gasification | flammability | vinyl polymers | nylon 6 (trademark) | cone calorimeters | polystyrene | polypropylene
Identifiers
intercalated polymer clay nanocomposites; polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride
Abstract
In the pursuit of improved approaches to flame retarding polymers a wide variety of concerns must be addressed. The low cost of commodity polymers requires that the fire retardant (FR) approach be of low cost. This limits the solutions to the problem primarily to additive type approaches. These additives must be easily processed with the polymer, must not excessively degrade the other performance properties, and must not create environmental problems in terms of recycling or disposal. Currently, some of the commonly used flame retardant approaches for polymers can reduce the thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer. Polymer-clay nanocomposites are hybrid organic polymer inorganic layered materials with unique properties when compared to conventional filled polymers. The mechanical properties for nylon-6 clay nanocomposite, with clay mass fraction of 5%, show excellent improvement over those for the pure nylon-6. The nanocomposite exhibits a 40% higher tensile strength, 68% greater tensile modulus, 60% higher flexural strength 126% increased flexural modulus, and comparable impact strengths. The heat distortion temperature (HDT) is increased from 65 deg C to 152 deg C. Previously, we reported on the flammability properties of nylon-6 clay nanocomposites. Here, we will briefly review these results, present the results of radiative gasification experiments and report on our initial studies of the flammability of intercalated polymer-clay nanocomposites prepared from polystyrene, PS, and polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride, PP-g-MA.