Investigation of a combination of novel polyphosphoramide and boron-containing compounds on the thermal and flame-retardant properties of polystyrene

A novel phosphorus, nitrogen-containing compound, poly(4, 4'-diaminodiphenyl methane phenyl dichlorophosphate) (PDMPD) with high thermal stability was synthesized. The PDMPD was then incorporated into polystyrene (PS) to be used as halogen-free flame retardant. Moreover, small amounts of two boron-containing compounds, Zinc borate (ZnB) and boron phosphate (BP) were combined with PDMPD, to explore effective flame-retardant formulations for PS. The flammability and the thermal properties of the composites were evaluated using limiting oxygen index (LOI) test, microscale combustion calorimeter (MCC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) respectively. A Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with a thermogravimetric analyzer (TG-IR) was also used to study the gas phase from the degradation of PS composites. Furthermore, the char residues of the samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and FTIR. The results showed that the incorporation of PDMPD can significantly decrease the flammability of virgin PS, and enhance the thermal stability at high temperature region, in both nitrogen and air atmosphere. A combination of PDMPD with small amounts of boron compounds can further decrease the flammability.