Synergistic Effect of Mesoporous Nanocomposites with Different Pore Sizes and Structures on Fire Safety and Smoke Suppression of Epoxy Resin

Epoxy resin (EP) is extremely flammable, and smoke release during combusting is considered toxic and harmful for human health. Mesoporous materials offer reliable desorption performance due to their large specific surface area. Therefore, the construction of mesoporous nanocomposites is a novel method for enhanced smoke suppression effect of EP. In this work, zinc hydroxystannate (ZHS)-mesoporous silica (SBA-15 and MCM-41) modified reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is successfully prepared and used to enhance the fire safety of EP. SBA-15-RGO-ZHS/EP exhibits the lowest total smoke production (22.8 m(2)) and peak heat release rate (416 kW m(-2)), which are reduced by 55% and 37% compared with pure EP, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of mesoporous nanoparticles is also investigated. Apparently, the smoke suppression effect and flame retardancy of SBA-15-RGO-ZHS/EP is even more remarkable than that of MCM-41-RGO-ZHS/EP, which indicates that the pore size and structure of mesoporous are important factors for reducing the smoke toxicity of EP. Finally, it is verified that its enhanced fire safety is attributed to the synergistic action of physical barrier properties of RGO, labyrinth effect of SBA-15, and catalytic ability of ZHS.