Novel eco-friendly flame retardant wood composites reinforced by huntite and hydromagnesite minerals

ABSTRACT

The biggest obstacle in using the wood as a building material is its lack of resistance against fire. In this study, it is aimed to provide resistance against this big obstacle in using the wood. In this sense, the novel flame-retardant wood composites were produced by using inorganic Turkish huntite and hydromagnesite minerals. For the production of composite material, the mineral was crushed, ground and screened to different sized fractions. Sawdust was used as a composite matrix. First, the mineral additive ratio in the composite was changed by keeping the size value of the additive material constant. Then, the contribution rate was kept constant, but the size values were changed. Hereby, the dependence on quantity and size was investigated. Mineralogical structure was determined by XRF, XRD and SEM-EDS devices. Thermal behavior was observed by the DTA-TG apparatus. Mechanical properties were evaluated by the bending test. UL-94 test apparatus was used to determine the flame-retardant properties of the wood composites. It was concluded that the wood composites, containing inorganic minerals, gain resistance against fire. Besides, the flame-retardant properties of the wood composites were improved as the mineral content increased and the size was reduced.

KEYWORDS:

• Wood composites
• flame retardant
• mechanical properties
• UL-94

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University and Izmir Institute of Technology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author thanks Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) as this work was supported by the TÜBİTAK Funds [grant number 216M090].