Influence of ferrocene on smoke suppression properties and combustion behavior of intumescent flame-retardant epoxy composites

This article mainly studies smoke suppression properties and synergistic flame-retardant effects of ferrocene (Fe(C5H5)(2)) on intumescent flame-retardant epoxy resins (IFREP) using ammonium polyphosphate and pentaerythritol as intumescent flame retardants. The smoke suppression properties and flame retardancy of ferrocene on IFREP compositions were investigated by cone calorimeter test (CCT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis-infrared spectrometry (TG-IR). Remarkably, CCT data revealed that the addition of ferrocene into IFREP compositions can significantly reduce heat release rate, total heat release, smoke production rate, and total smoke release. On the other hand, the SEM results showed that ferrocene can greatly improve the structure of char residue. The TG data indicated that ferrocene had different effects on the process of thermal degradation of the IFREP compositions. Moreover, the volatilized products formed on thermal degradation of IFREP compositions demonstrated that the volatilized products were H2O, CO2, CO, carboxylic acid, and aliphatic hydrocarbons according to the temperature of onset formation. Here, ferrocene is considered to be an effective smoke suppression agent and a good synergism with IFR in flame-retardant epoxy resins, which can greatly enhance the char residue.