Improved fire retardancy of thermoset composites modified with carbon nanofibers

Zhongfu Zhao; Jan Gou

doi:10.1088/1468-6996/10/1/015005

Improved fire retardancy of thermoset composites modified with carbon nanofibers

Sci Technol Adv Mater. 2009 Mar 4;10(1):015005. doi: 10.1088/1468-6996/10/1/015005. eCollection 2009 Feb.

Authors

Zhongfu Zhao¹, Jan Gou²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 158 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116012, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering University of Central Florida, FL 32816, USA.

Abstract

Multifunctional thermoset composites were made from polyester resin, glass fiber mats and carbon nanofiber sheets (CNS). Their flaming behavior was investigated with cone calorimeter under well-controlled combustion conditions. The heat release rate was lowered by pre-planting carbon nanofiber sheets on the sample surface with the total fiber content of only 0.38 wt.%. Electron microscopy showed that carbon nanofiber sheet was partly burned and charred materials were formed on the combusting surface. Both the nanofibers and charred materials acted as an excellent insulator and/or mass transport barrier, improving the fire retardancy of the composite. This behavior agrees well with the general mechanism of fire retardancy in various nanoparticle-thermoplastic composites.

Keywords: carbon nanofiber; composites; flame retardance.