Heat, Flame-retardant Poly (methyl Methacrylate) Composites And Research

In this research, the heat-resistant and flame-retardant Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composites were prepared by the in situ bulk polymerization, and kinds of measurements were employed to analyze the influence of nano-ZrO2 and phenyl silicone resin on the thermal stability and flame retardancy of PMMA.Nanozirconia (nano-ZrO2 was prepared by the sol-gel method and the structure of the nano-ZrO2 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The nano-ZrO2 and phenyl silicone resin were incorporated into PMMA by the in situ bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate, then the structure of PMMA composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that there were interactions between the nano-ZrO2 or phenyl silicone resin and the polymer. The thermal stability of PMMA composites was investigated by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), and its thermal decomposition mechanism was also discussed. The results indicated that nano-ZrO2 or phenyl silicone resin enhanced the thermal stability of the PMMA composites and PMMA was more stable in nitrogen atmosphere than that in air. And the thermal degradation of samples under nitrogen and air showed three stages corresponding with the cleavage of head-to-head linkages, unsaturated vinyl ends, and random scission of the PMMA main chains. Moreover, the Kissinger method was employed to analyze the thermal degradation kinetics of samples.Triphenyl Phosphate (TPP) was selected as flame retardant, and the nano-ZrO2 or phenyl silicone resin was selected as synergistic agent to discuss the influence of different synergetic system on the flame retardancy of PMMA. The cone calorimeter result showed that both the synergetic systems could reduce the heat release rate, smoke produce rate and mass loss of PMMA.The residue chars were investigated by FITR spectroscopy, Raman,SEM and XPS to study flame retardant mechanism. The results showed that the introduction of nano-ZrO2 and phenyl silicone resin could increase the amount of residue chars and improve the compactness of chars. Futhermore, the addition of nano-ZrO2 and phenyl silicone resin could suppress the degradation of the residue chars, so as to improve the flame retardancy of PMMA.