Synergistic flammability and thermal stability of polypropylene/aluminum trihydroxide/Fe-montmorillonite nanocomposites

In the present study, polypropylene/aluminium trihydroxide/Fe-montmorillonite (PP/ATH/Fe-MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by melt-intercalation method. This was been designed to determine whether the presence of structural iron in the matrix could enhance the thermal stability and flammability of nanocomposites. In order to prove the effect of Fe3+ in the structural silicate layers, samples of PP/ATH and PP/ATH/Na-MMT (no Fe3+ in structural silicate layers) were prepared under the same conditions. Fe-MMT and Na-MMT were modified by cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The nanocomposite structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was applied to test the thermal properties of nanocomposites. In addition, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of PP/ATH/Fe-MMT nanocomposites was increased, and no dripping phenomenon was found through the UL-94 vertical burning test. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.