title: Fish DNA-modified clays: Towards highly flame retardant polymer nanocomposite with improved interfacial and mechanical performance.
abstract: Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) has been recently found to be an efficient renewable and environmentally-friendly flame retardant. In this work, for the first time, we have used waste DNA from fishing industry to modify clay structure in order to increase the clay interactions with epoxy resin and take benefit of its additional thermal property effect on thermo-physical properties of epoxy-clay nanocomposites. Intercalation of DNA within the clay layers was accomplished in a one-step approach confirmed by FT-IR, XPS, TGA, and XRD analyses, indicating that d-space of clay layers was expanded from ~1.2 nm for pristine clay to ~1.9 nm for clay modified with DNA (d-clay). Compared to epoxy nanocomposite containing 2.5%wt of Nanomer I.28E organoclay (m-clay), it was found that at 2.5%wt d-clay loading, significant enhancements of ~14%, ~6% and ~26% in tensile strength, tensile modulus, and fracture toughness of epoxy nanocomposite can be achieved, respectively. Effect of DNA as clay modifier on thermal performance of epoxy nanocomposite containing 2.5%wt d-clay was evaluated using TGA and cone calorimetry analysis, revealing significant decreases of ~4000 kJ/m2and ~78 kW/m2in total heat release and peak of heat release rate, respectively, in comparison to that containing 2.5%wt of m-clay.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Omid
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zabihi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khayyam
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Minoo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naebe
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000077215:Clay; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005399:Fishes; D005411:Flame Retardants; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D005411:Flame Retardants; D004247:DNA; D000077215:Clay