Abstract:

Borate is considered one of the most important additives for improving the fire-resistance of combustible polymers because of its smoke suppression, low toxicity, and good thermal stability. However, the size of prepared borate is usually in the micrometer range, which makes it difficult to disperse in a polymer matrix, thus hindering its use as fire-retardant material. The preparation and application of borate nanomaterial as flame retardant is considered an effective method. However, the preparation of barium borate nanomaterials as flame retardant has not been reported. In this paper, nanosheets and nanoribbons with different sizes for a new barium borate BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O are prepared by hydrothermal method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The flame-retardant properties of polypropylene (PP)/BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O composites are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermal analysis methods and limited oxygen index (LOI) method. Considering the near TG mass losses and the near LOI values for PP with 10% prepared BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O nanosheet and nanoribbon, their flame-retardant properties need to be further evaluated by non-isothermal decomposition kinetic method. The apparent activation energy for this decomposition reaction was obtained from the slope by plotting ln(β/T_p²) against 1/T_p according to Kissinger's model. With the reduction of TG mass loss, increased heat absorption in DSC under N₂ atmosphere, increased apparent activation energy E_a for the thermal decomposition of PP/BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O composite as well as increased LOI value, the flame-retardant performance of prepared BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O samples with PP gradually improved from bulk to nanoribbon to nanosheet. This can be attributed to the decrease in the size of BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O samples because the smaller sample size leads to improved dispersion and increased contact area with the polymer. The flame-retardant mechanism is discussed by analyzing the after-flame chars of the PP/BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O composite in SEM images, which show that the char layer is more compact and continuous for the PP/BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O nanosheet composite. The influence of loading BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O nanomaterials on the mechanical properties of PP is also tested using a universal material testing machine, in which the PP/BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O nanosheet composite has higher tensile strength. The PP/BaO·4B₂O₃·5H₂O nanosheet composite has the best flame-retardant and mechanical properties, which is promising to be developed for the application as flame-retardant material.

Key words: Barium borate, Nanomaterials, Preparation, Flame retardant performance, Mechanical property, Thermal decomposition kinetics method