title: Fire safety improvement of para-aramid fiber in thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer.
abstract: This article mainly studied fire safety effects of para-aramid fiber (AF) in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The TPU/AF composites were prepared by molten blending method, and then the fire safety effects of all TPU composites were tested using cone calorimeter test (CCT), microscale combustion colorimeter test (MCC), smoke density test (SDT), and thermogravimetric/fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-IR). The CCT test showed that AF could improve the fire safety of TPU. Remarkably, the peak value of heat release rate (pHRR) and the peak value of smoke production rate (pSPR) for the sample with 1.0wt% content of AF were decreased by 52.0% and 40.5% compared with pure TPU, respectively. The MCC test showed that the HRR value of AF-2 decreased by 27.6% compared with pure TPU. TG test showed that AF promoted the char formation in the degradation process of TPU; as a result the residual carbon was increased. The TG-IR test revealed that AF had increased the thermal stability of TPU at the beginning and reduced the release of CO2with the decomposition going on. Through the analysis of the results of this experiment, it will make a great influence on the study of the para-aramid fiber in the aspect of fire safety of polymer.
authors.affiliation: College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, PR China.
authors.forename: Xilei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenduo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, PR China.
authors.forename: Shaoxiang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, PR China. Electronic address: jiaochm@qust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chuanmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiao
keywords: Fire safety; Flame retardant; Para-aramid fiber; Thermoplastic polyurethane