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Design and Development of Flame-Retardant Polymer Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymeric Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 December 2024 | Viewed by 3001

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Safety Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
Interests: safety of hazardous chemicals and inherent safety in chemical engineering; safety of new energy and new materials: hydrogen energy, fuel cells, nanomaterials and flame retardant materials; fire and explosion prevention in industrial processes and risk assessment

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Guest Editor
College of Safety Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
Interests: high-efficiency eco-friendly flame retardants and flame-retardant polymeric materials; sustainable and functional thermosetting resins and their composites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of our esteemed journal is dedicated to cutting-edge developments in the realm of flame-retardant polymer materials. It aims to spotlight the latest research, innovative methodologies, and groundbreaking technologies that are redefining safety standards in the polymer industry. We invite contributions that address the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of advanced flame-retardant materials with a focus on enhanced performance, environmental sustainability, and compliance with international safety regulations.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Novel flame retardants for various polymeric systems;
  • Mechanistic studies on flame inhibition and material combustion;
  • Eco-friendly and non-toxic flame retardant agents;
  • The influence of additives on the thermal and mechanical properties of polymers;
  • Tailoring of polymer architecture for inherent flame retardancy;
  • Multifunctional materials integrating flame retardancy with other desirable attributes;
  • Evaluation and testing methodologies for flame retardant efficiency.

By bringing together research from academia and industry, this Special Issue seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and stimulate debate about future directions in the field of flame-retardant polymer science. We encourage submissions from researchers worldwide who are pushing the boundaries of innovation and safety in polymer materials.

We are pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts for this Special Issue of Materials, entitled “Design and Development of Flame-Retardant Polymer Materials,” in the form of research papers, communications, and review articles. We look forward to your participation in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Yong Pan
Dr. Yuling Xiao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • flame retardants
  • intrinsic structure design
  • synthesis
  • polymer
  • composites
  • thermal stability
  • mechanical properties
  • mechanism

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3235 KiB  
Article
Boosting Flame Retardancy of Polypropylene/Calcium Carbonate Composites with Inorganic Flame Retardants
by Antonio Benjamim Mapossa, Erick Gabriel Ribeiro dos Anjos and Uttandaraman Sundararaj
Materials 2024, 17(18), 4553; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17184553 - 16 Sep 2024
Viewed by 875
Abstract
This study investigates the effects of inorganic flame retardants, zinc borate, and magnesium hydroxide, on the thermal, morphological, flame retardancy, and mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP)/calcium carbonate composites for potential construction industry applications. Polypropylene/calcium carbonate (50 wt.%) composites containing 5 and 10 wt.% [...] Read more.
This study investigates the effects of inorganic flame retardants, zinc borate, and magnesium hydroxide, on the thermal, morphological, flame retardancy, and mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP)/calcium carbonate composites for potential construction industry applications. Polypropylene/calcium carbonate (50 wt.%) composites containing 5 and 10 wt.% flame retardants were prepared using a batch mixer, followed by compression moulding. The results demonstrated enhanced thermal stability, with the highest char residue reaching 47.2% for polypropylene/calcium carbonate/zinc borate (10 wt.%)/magnesium hydroxide (10 wt.%) composite, a notably strong outcome. Additionally, the composite exhibited an elevated limited oxygen index (LOI) of 29.4%, indicating a synergistic effect between zinc borate and magnesium hydroxide. The proposed flame retardancy mechanism suggests that the flammability performance is driven by the interaction between the flame retardants within the polypropylene/calcium carbonate matrix. Magnesium hydroxide contributes to smoke suppression by releasing water, while zinc borate forms a protective glassy foam that covers the burning surface, promoting char formation and acting as a physical barrier to heat transmission and fire spread. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed good dispersion of the additives alongside calcium carbonate within the polymer matrix. Despite the addition of up to 10 wt.% flame retardants, the composites maintained high-notched impact strength. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Flame-Retardant Polymer Materials)
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18 pages, 3120 KiB  
Article
Thermal and Combustion Properties of Biomass-Based Flame-Retardant Polyurethane Foams Containing P and N
by Jing Zhan, Liangchen Mao, Rongshui Qin, Jing Qian and Xiaowei Mu
Materials 2024, 17(14), 3473; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17143473 - 13 Jul 2024
Viewed by 691
Abstract
Biomass has been widely used due to its environmental friendliness, sustainability, and low toxicity. In this study, aminophosphorylated cellulose (PNC), a biomass flame retardant containing phosphorus and nitrogen, was synthesized by esterification from cellulose and introduced into polyurethane to prepare flame-retardant rigid polyurethane [...] Read more.
Biomass has been widely used due to its environmental friendliness, sustainability, and low toxicity. In this study, aminophosphorylated cellulose (PNC), a biomass flame retardant containing phosphorus and nitrogen, was synthesized by esterification from cellulose and introduced into polyurethane to prepare flame-retardant rigid polyurethane foam. The combustion properties of the PU and PU/PNC composites were studied using the limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94, and cone calorimeter (CCT) methods. The thermal degradation behavior of the PU and PU/PNC composites was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermogravimetric infrared spectroscopy (TG-IR). The char layer after combustion was characterized using SEM, Raman, and XPS. The experimental results showed that the introduction of PNC significantly improved the flame-retardant effect and safety of PU/PNC composites. Adding 15 wt% PNC to PU resulted in a vertical burning grade of V-0 and a limiting oxygen index of 23.5%. Compared to the pure sample, the residual char content of PU/PNC15 in a nitrogen atmosphere increased by 181%, and the total heat release (THR) decreased by 56.3%. A Raman analysis of the char layer after CCT combustion revealed that the ID/IG ratio of PU/PNC15 decreased from 4.11 to 3.61, indicating that the flame retardant could increase the stability of the char layer. The TG-IR results showed that PNC diluted the concentration of O2 and combustible gases by releasing inert gases such as CO2. These findings suggest that the developed PU/PNC composites have significant potential for real-world applications, particularly in industries requiring enhanced fire safety, such as construction, transportation, and electronics. The use of PNC provides an eco-friendly alternative to traditional flame retardants. This research paves the way for the development of safer, more sustainable, and environmentally friendly fire-resistant materials for a wide range of applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Flame-Retardant Polymer Materials)
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14 pages, 5585 KiB  
Article
Highly Efficient Phosphazene-Derivative-Based Flame Retardant with Comprehensive and Enhanced Fire Safety and Mechanical Performance for Polycarbonate
by Xiaowei Mu, Jing Zhan, Lu Liu, Zhongyi Yao, Yulu Zhu, Bin Yu and Lei Song
Materials 2024, 17(13), 3206; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17133206 - 1 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1022
Abstract
Polycarbonate (PC) as a widely used engineering plastic that shows disadvantages of flammability and large smoke production during combustion. Although many flame-retardant PCs have been developed, most of them show enhanced flame retardancy but poor smoke suppression or worsened mechanical performance. In this [...] Read more.
Polycarbonate (PC) as a widely used engineering plastic that shows disadvantages of flammability and large smoke production during combustion. Although many flame-retardant PCs have been developed, most of them show enhanced flame retardancy but poor smoke suppression or worsened mechanical performance. In this work, a novel nitrogen–phosphorus–sulfur synergistic flame retardant (Pc-FR) was synthesized and incorporated into PC with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The extremely low content of PC-FR (0.1–0.5 wt%) contributes significantly to the flame retardancy, smoke suppression and mechanical performance of PC. PC/0.3 wt% Pc-FR/0.3 wt% PTFE (PC-P0.3) shows the UL-94 V-0 and LOI of 33.5%. The PHRR, THR, PSPR, PCO and TCO of PC-P0.3 decreased by 39.44%, 14.38%, 17.45%, 54.75% and 30.61%, respectively. The impact strength and storage modulus of PC-P0.1 increased by 7.7 kJ/m2 and 26 MPa, respectively. The pyrolysis mechanism of PC-P0.3 is also revealed. The pyrolysis mechanism of PC-P0.3 is stochastic nucleation and subsequent growth and satisfies the Aevrami–Erofeev equation. The reaction order of PC-P0.3 is 1/2. The activation energy of PC-P0.3 is larger than PC-0, which proves that the Pc-FR can suppress the pyrolysis of the PC. This work offers a direction on how to design high-performance PC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Development of Flame-Retardant Polymer Materials)
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