Tunable thermal, flame retardant and toxic effluent suppression properties of polystyrene based on alternating graphitic carbon nitride and multi-walled carbon nanotubes
Abstract
Significant improvements in thermal and flame retardant properties of polymeric materials at low loadings hold tremendous promise for fire safety materials. In the present work, a highly effective graphitic carbon nitride/acidized multi-walled carbon nanotube (g-C3N4/aMWCNT) bilayer was deposited on a PS sphere for reducing its fire hazards. The PS sphere allowed the intimate assembly of the g-C3N4/aMWCNT bilayer on its surface through electrostatic interactions. Structural and morphological characterization revealed the successful assembly of PS/g-C3N4/aMWCNT systems. Enhanced thermal stability and flame retardancy (e.g. a decrease of ca. 45% and 47% in HRR and THR, respectively) were obtained for the ternary assembled systems instead of the binary materials. The phenomena were caused by two reasons: g-C3N4/aMWCNT bilayers induced the construction of the “tortuous path” which impeded the permeation of heat and the escape of pyrolysis volatile products; on the other hand, stacked g-C3N4 nanosheets or thermolabile aMWCNTs with an uncompact network structure led to poor thermal stability and fire resistance. Thus, this work paves a potential pathway to design efficient assembled fire-retardant systems for fire safety.
- This article is part of the themed collection: 2015 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Hot Papers
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