Silica-coated metal-organic framework-β-FeOOH hybrid for improving the flame retardant and smoke suppressive properties of epoxy resin

ABSTRACT

In order to improve the flame retardancy and smoke suppression of epoxy resin (EP), ZIF-67 particles were loaded on β-FeOOH by electrostatic action and coated with SiO₂ to prepare SiO₂@ZIF-67-β-FeOOH (SZF). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) results showed that the SZF hybrid was successfully prepared. Different proportions of SZF were added to EP to study its combustion performance. The combustion results show that the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of the SZF composite with 5% flame retardant is increased to 31.9%, and the UL-94 flame retardant rating is increased to V-0. Peak heat release rate (pHRR), total heat release (THR), smoke release rate (SPR) and total smoke release (TSP) were reduced by 64.0%, 48.2%, 31.4% and 48.3%, respectively. According to the results of carbon analysis, the main flame retardant and smoke suppression mechanisms of SZF are analysed. In this work, a new idea is provided for improving the flame retardant and smoke suppression performance of EP.

KEYWORDS:

• composites
• flame retardant
• nanostructured polymers
• smoke depressing

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the Natural Science Research Project of Colleges and Universities in Anhui Province (KJ2018A0522), Cooperative Innovation Project of Colleges and Universities in Anhui Province (GXXT-2019-001) and Key Research and Development Plan projects in Anhui Province (201904a05020021) for their support and Innovative Training Programme for College Students (202010878092) for their support.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Cooperative Innovation Project of Colleges and Universities in Anhui Province [grant number GXXT-2019-001]; their support and Innovative Training Programme for College Students [grant number 202010878092]; Key Research and Development Plan projects in Anhui Province [grant number 201904a05020021]; University Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Province [grant number KJ2018A0522].