The role of the trivalent metal in an LDH: Synthesis, characterization and fire properties of thermally stable PMMA/LDH systems

Two layered double hydroxides (LDHs), calcium aluminum undecenoate (Ca3Al) and calcium iron undecenoate (Ca3Fe), have been prepared by the co-precipitation method. XRD analysis of these LDHs reveals that they are layered materials and FT-IR and TGA confirmed the presence of the undecenoate anions in the material produced. The PMMA composites were prepared by bulk polymerization and the samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, TGA and cone calorimetry. Both additives greatly enhance the thermal stability of PMMA, while the calcium aluminum LDH gives better results when the fire properties were examined using the cone calorimeter. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.