Influences of organic montmorillonite on the combustion behaviors and thermal stability of polyamide 6/polystyrene blends

Abstract

The nanocomposites of polyamide 6/polystyrene (PA6/PS) with different contents of organic montmorillonite (OMMT) have been obtained by melt blending. The combustion behaviors, morphology of char residues, and thermal stability of nanocomposites have been characterized by cone calorimeter tests (CCT), electron probe microanalysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The CCT results indicated that the OMMT was an efficient flame retardant (FR) in the FR-PA6/PS blends. The heat release rates, the total heat release, and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide production of the FR nanocomposites decreased in comparison with PA6/PS blends. The SEM photographs showed that the ''spongy'' structure on the surface of char residues increased. In addition, the thickness and strength of char residues enhanced with the increase of OMMT content. The tight multilayer carbon silicate layer structure was formed which was conducive to FR. The TGA data indicated that OMMT greatly enhanced the thermal stability, and char residues of PA6/PS/OMMT nanocomposites gradually increased with increasing the OMMT content.

Influence of Organically Modified Nanoclay on Thermal and Combustion Properties of Bagasse Reinforced HDPE Nanocomposites

“…The nanoclay-produced silicates char on the surface layer of HDPE/BF blends increased the flame resistance of the samples. This was consistent with previous studies [25,27]. The tortuous path provided by the silicate layers had better barrier property to the oxygen and heat which delayed the burning capacity of the composite [19,30].…”

“…It was found that the addition of clay slightly improved the onset of the degradation of the composites. The increase of thermal stability was attributed to the hindered diffusion of volatile decomposition products by the clay particles in the polymer matrix [25][26][27]. The most likely explanation is that the well dispersed individual layers of intercalated/exfoliated clay platelets form torturous path, which inhibit the passage of volatile degradation product from the polymer matrix [28].…”

“…The DTG curve analysis showed that the samples with addition of nanoclay experienced two-step processes; however, the latter had a higher decomposition temperature compared with the samples without nanoclay. The possible reason is that the amount of char residues that can be formed on the surface during combustion improved the thermal stability [25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Preparation, Characterization and Photostability of Nanocomposite Films Based on Poly(acrylic acid) and Montmorillonite

“…In recent years, polymer layered silicate nanocomposites have attracted attention in many fields, e.g., in industry exploitation and fundamental research 1,2 . These materials exhibit excellent mechanical and thermal properties, decrease in gas/vapor permeability, and reduced flammability in the presence of a small amount of the silicate, as compared with the polymer itself [2][3][4] .…”

Preparation of polyamide 6/polystyrene quasi‐nanoblends by diffusion and subsequent polymerization of styrene in water‐sorbed polyamide 6 pellets

“…Polyamide 6 (PA6)/polystyrene (PS) blends are of considerable research interest because they have good commercial potential and they are expected to have combined advantages of PA6 that is strong, tough, abrasion‐, corrosion‐, and heat‐resistant, and PS that is stiff, low moisture sorption, low cost, and easy‐processing . Similar to other types of immiscible polymer blends processed under typical extrusion conditions, the size of the dispersed phase is usually large, in micrometer range, and much effort has been devoted to reduce the size of the dispersed phase by adding a compatibilizer such as maleic anhydride‐grafted PS and poly(styrene‐ g ‐ethylene oxide) .…”