MXene-wrapped zinc hydroxystannate nanocubes toward reducing the heat, smoke and toxicity hazards of ABS resin

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites with less smoke and toxicity hazards (e.g., HCN and NOx) emission are highly demanded. As a common smoke suppressant, zinc hydroxystannate (ZHS) has been used in various polymers, while the high content, special cube shape and agglomeration restrict its development. To solve these problems, MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets were utilized to wrap ZHS nanoparticles (Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS) to improve the dispersion and compatibility of ZHS nanoparticles in ABS, in which polydopamine (PDA) was used as a binder to combine ZHS and MXene nanosheets. Accordingly, the prepared ABS/Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS nanocomposites showed the enhanced properties: (1) ABS/Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS exhibited a 69.7% increase in elongation at break compared to ABS/ZHS at a 2 mass% loading. (2) Owing to the synergistic effect of MXene and ZHS, Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS provided excellent inhibition on heat and toxic gas release during combustion (a reduction of approximately 17.5%, 34.5%, 19.1% and 20.0% of peak heat release rate, HCN, NO and NO2, respectively). (3) The smoke density decreased from 525.6 for neat ABS to 423.2 for ABS/Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS with a reduction of 19.5%, and the light transmittance of ABS/Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS (37.7%) was much higher than that of pure ABS (21.2%) at 240 s. Therefore, Ti3C2Tx-PDA-ZHS showed a great enhancement in flammability, toxicity and smoke release reduction of ABS, potentially overcoming the weakness with improved diversity in future applications.

Automated summary

In this study, MXene nanosheets were utilized to wrap zinc hydroxystannate nanoparticles, improving the dispersion and compatibility of the nanoparticles in ABS composites. The results showed that the addition of the MXene-ZHS composite significantly enhanced the elongation properties of ABS and effectively inhibited heat and toxic gas release during combustion, resulting in reduced smoke density.