Polycarbonate nanocomposite with improved fire behavior, physical and psychophysical transparency

[Display omitted] ► The presence of RDP induces a better dispersion of POSS into polycarbonate. ► Combination POSS/RDP into PC enables a significant reduction of heat release rate. ► Reactivity between components favors the formation of a char acting as barrier. ► PC/POSS/RDP exhibits medium perceiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European polymer journal 2013-02, Vol.49 (2), p.319-327
Main Authors: Vahabi, H., Eterradossi, O., Ferry, L., Longuet, C., Sonnier, R., Lopez-Cuesta, J.-M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Bonding and welding
Chemical Sciences
Exact sciences and technology
Flame retardancy
Machinery and processing
Plastics
Polycarbonate
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Technology of polymers
Transparency
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Summary:[Display omitted] ► The presence of RDP induces a better dispersion of POSS into polycarbonate. ► Combination POSS/RDP into PC enables a significant reduction of heat release rate. ► Reactivity between components favors the formation of a char acting as barrier. ► PC/POSS/RDP exhibits medium perceived transmittance defining a translucent material. Transparent polycarbonate nanocomposites with improved fire behavior were prepared by incorporation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and resorcinol bis (diphenyl phosphate) (RDP) via melt blending. Flame retardancy performance was characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, pyrolysis combustion flow calorimeter and cone calorimeter. Simultaneous presence of RDP and POSS led to the decrease of the degradation rate and the increase of char residue due to the reaction of the additives with the decomposing polymer. This results in a significant reduction of flammability of polycarbonate. In cone calorimeter, the heat release rate as well as the smoke production rate were shown to strongly decrease due to a condensed phase mechanism that favored the formation of a cohesive char layer. Transparency evaluation was performed in both physical and psychophysical spaces. The two approaches give various assessment of transparency. Considering the perceived optical properties, it could be concluded that flame retarded PC is translucent rather than transparent.
ISSN:0014-3057
1873-1945
DOI:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2012.10.031