Influence of core materials on thermal properties of melamine-formaldehyde microcapsules

A series of melamine-formaldehyde rnicrocapsules as an intrinsic intumescent system was prepared by all in situ polymerization. The structural and thermal properties of the resultant microcapsules were studied. The surface morphology and chemical structure of microcapsules were investigated using scanning electron rnicroscope (SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscope (FT-IR), respectively. The thermal properties of samples were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that the thermo-physical properties are strongly dependant oil the nature core content and the synthesis conditions. From the thermal analysis, it was concluded that rnicrocapsules containing di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate exhibits characteristics of all intumescent system during their thermal degradation and could be interpreted due to the interaction between phosphate and melamine. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.