Steam Exploded Peanut Shell Fiber as the Filler in the Rigid Polyurethane Foams

In this study,steam exploded peanut shell fibers(SE-PSFs)were utilized to fabricate with rigid polyurethane foam(RPUF)in order to improve sound absorption performance and hydrothermal weather resistance.Optimized method of SE treatment,RPUF preparation and flame retardant treatment were selected to prepare SE-PSF/RPUF composites in this experiment.Physical and mechanical properties including density,water absorption capacity,thickness swelling rate,compressive strength,thermal conductivity and average sound absorption coefficient of SE-PSF/RPUF were investigated and compared with the control(PRUF).The results showed that the density,water absorption capacity,thickness swelling rate and thermal conductivity showed an increasing trend with the increase of SE-PSFs content.The strength of the composite material showed a downward trend with the increase of the SE-PSFs content.The average sound absorption coefficient of the SE-PSFs/RPUF compared with PRUF significant increased,and the average sound absorption coefficient of the SE-PSFs/RPUF with SE-PSFs 40%was 0.47.The study getted the best ratio of flame retardants for 10%EG and 3%DMMP.The oxygen index was 35.56 vol%.

SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF LAYERED DOUBLE HYDROXIDE WITH PHOSPHORUS-NITROGEN INTUMESCENT FLAME RETARDANT IN PP/EPDM/IFR/LDH NANOCOMPOSITES

Synergistic effects of layered double hydroxide （LDH） with intumescent flame retardanct （IFR） of phosphorusnitrogen （NP） compound in the polypropylene/ethylene-propylene-diene/IFR/LDH （PP/EPDM/IFR/LDH） nanocomposites and related properties were studied by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, limiting oxygen index （LOI）, UL-94 test, cone calorimeter test （CCT） and thermo-gravimetric analysis （TGA）. The XRD and TEM results show that the intercalated and/or exfoliated nanocomposites can be obtained by direct melt-intercalation of PP/EPDM into modified LDH and that LDH can promote the IFR additive NP to disperse more homogeneously in the polymer matrix. The SEM results provide positive evidence that more compact charred layers can be obtained from the PP/EPDM/NP/LDH sample than those from the PP/EPDM/LDH and PP/EPDM/NP samples during burning. The LOI and UL-94 rating tests show that the synergetic effects of LDH with NP can effectively increase the flame retardant properties of the PP/EPDM/NP/LDH samples. The data from the CCT and TGA tests indicate that the PP/EPDM/NP/LDH samples apparently decrease the HRR and MLR values and thus enhance the flame retardant properties and have better thermal stability than the PP/EPDM/LDH and PP/EPDM/NP samples.

Synthesis and characterization of NaA zeolite particle as intumescent fiame retardant in chloroprene rubber system

NaA zeolite with average particle size of 1 μm was successfully synthesized by microwave heating. Influences of pre-crystallization time, microwave power and microwave heating time on the synthesis of NaA zeolite were investigated. The as-synthesized sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and particle size distribution （PSD）. Thermal and flame retardant properties as intumescent flame retardant （IFR） in chloroprene rubber （CR） system, such as thermogravimetry （TG）, limiting oxygen index （LOI）, burning rate （BR） and specific extinction area （SEA） were further investigated by adding NaA zeolite particles to CR. Experimental results show that the thermal stability and LO1 value increased while BR and SEA decreased by adding 5 phr NaA zeolite into the 40 phr IFR filled CR system.