title: An efficient mono-component polymeric intumescent flame retardant for polypropylene: preparation and application.
abstract: We found in our previous study that ethylenediamine- or ethanolamine-modified ammonium polyphosphates could be used alone as an intumescent flame retardant for polypropylene (PP), but their flame-retardant efficiency was not very high. In this present work, a novel highly-efficient mono-component polymeric intumescent flame retardant, piperazine-modified ammonium polyphosphate (PA-APP) was prepared. The oxygen index value of PP containing 22 wt % of PA-APP reached 31.2%, which increased by 58.4% compared with that of PP with equal amount of APP, and the vertical burning test (UL-94) could pass V-0 rating. Cone calorimeter (CC) results indicated that PP/PA-APP composite exhibited superior performance compared with PP/APP composite. For PP containing 25 wt % of PA-APP, fire growth rate (FGR) and smoke production rate (SPR) peak were reduced by 86.4% and 78.2%, respectively, compared with PP blended with 25 wt % APP. The relevant flame-retardant mechanism of PA-APP was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy etc. The P-N-C structure with the alicyclic amine was formed during the thermal decomposition of piperazine salt (-NH2(+)-O-P-), and the rich P-N-C structure facilitated the formation of stable char layer at the later stage, consequently improving the flame-retardant efficiency of APP.
authors.affiliation: Center for Degradable and Flame-Retardant Polymeric Materials, College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory of Eco-Friendly Polymeric Materials (Sichuan), Analytical and Testing Center, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610064, China.
authors.forename: Zhu-Bao
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Ming-Jun
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-Zhong
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wang