Synthesis of maleimido-substituted aromatic s-triazine and its application in flame-retarded epoxy resins

The Flame Retardant and Mechanical Properties of the Epoxy Modified by an Efficient DOPO-Based Flame Retardant

Currently, the mechanical performance reduction caused by excessive phosphorus content in the halogen-free flame-retardant EP has been an obstacle to its extensive application. This study presents the effective synthesis of a novel flame-retardant BDD with great efficiency, achieving an optimum phosphorus level of merely 0.25 wt %. The structure of BDD was verified by FTIR, 1H NMR, 31P NMR and XPS spectra. To investigate the flame-retardant properties of BDD, several EPs with various phosphorus levels were synthesized. The addition of phosphorus to the EP significantly increases its LOI value from 25.8% to 33.4% at a phosphorus level of 0.25 wt%. Additionally, the resin achieves a V-0 grade in the UL 94 test. The P-HRR and THR of the modified resin measured by the cone calorimeter are also significantly reduced. At the same time, the addition of a modest quantity of BDD has a minimal impact on the mechanical properties of epoxy resin. This study shows that the removal of hydroxyl groups significantly enhances the fire resistance of phosphate-based flame retardants, thereby providing a novel approach to synthesizing efficient flame retardants.

Synthesis of a Novel Flame Retardant Containing Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Silicon and Its Application in Epoxy Resin

A novel flame retardant (TDA) containing phosphorus, nitrogen, and silicon was synthesized successfully via a controllable ring-opening addition reaction between 1,3,5-triglycidyl isocyanurate, 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide, and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, and TDA was then blended with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A to prepare flame-retardant epoxy resins (EPs). The chemical structure and components of TDA were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis results indicated that after the introduction of TDA, cured EP maintained good thermal stability with a minimum initial decomposition temperature of 337.6 °C, and the char yields of a EP/TDA-5 sample significantly increased by 76.2% compared with that of the neat EP thermoset. Additionally, with the addition of 25.0 wt % TDA (1.05 wt % phosphorus loading), the limited oxygen index value of cured EP increased from 22.5% of pure EP to 33.4%, and vertical burning V-0 rating was easily achieved. Meanwhile, after the incorporation of TDA, the total heat release and total smoke production of the EP/TDA-5 sample obviously reduced by 28.9 and 27.7% in the cone calorimeter test, respectively. Flame-retardant performances and flame-retardant mechanisms were further analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, energy-dispersive spectrometry, and pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The results reveal that the synergistic effect of phosphorus, nitrogen, and silicon plays an excellent flame-retardant role in both gaseous and condensed phases. In addition, the mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of cured EP thermosets are well maintained rather than destroyed. All the results demonstrate that TDA endows epoxy resin with excellent flame retardancy and possesses great promise in the industrial field.

Synergistic effects between hydroxyl radicals and hydrated electrons on strengthening decomposition of an s-triazine compound: A combined experimental and theoretical study

The decomposition of an environmentally recalcitrant s-triazine compound, prometry (PMT), was carried out by experimental and theoretical approaches to study the combined effects of hydroxyl radicals (OH) and hydrated electrons (e_aq^-). With the participation of strongly oxidative radicals OH and reductive radicals e_aq^- induced by electron beam (EB), PMT obtained a good decomposition performance, which was obviously better than those methods simply using OH as the single active species. The evolution of cyanuric acid (CA) during the EB and UV irradiation processes elucidate that former method could efficiently decompose such chemically stable intermediate. The experiments of radical scavengers further suggest that OH was the predominant radical during PMT degradation, while e_aq^- was beneficial to further decomposition and mineralization. Combined with the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the strengthened synergistic effects between OH and e_aq^- were proven. The calculations illustrated OH could attack the carbon-branch-chains of s-trazine ring and form OH-adducts rather than nitrogen oxides. Moreover, the presence of e_aq^- could not only greatly change the geometry of the s-triazine ring, but also help cleaving alkyl chain on ring, thus facilitate the complete mineralization.

Synthesis of a phosphorus–nitrogen-containing flame retardant and its application in epoxy resin

In this article, a phosphorus–nitrogen-containing flame retardant (DOPO-T) was successfully synthesized by nucleophilic substitution reaction between 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) and cyanuric chloride. The chemical structure of DOPO-T was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and phosphorous-31 NMR, and elemental analysis. DOPO-T was then blended with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A to prepare flame-retardant epoxy resins. Thermal properties, flame retardancy, and combustion behavior of the cured epoxy resins were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, limited oxygen index (LOI) measurement, UL94 vertical burning test, and cone calorimeter test. The results indicated that the glass transition temperature ( Tg) and temperature at 5% weight loss of epoxy resin (EP)/DOPO-T thermosets were gradually decreased with the increasing content of DOPO-T. DOPO-T catalyzed the decomposition of EP matrix in advance. The flame-retardant performance of EP thermosets was significantly enhanced with the addition of DOPO-T. EP/DOPO-T-0.9 sample had an LOI value of 36.2% and achieved UL94 V-1 rating. In addition, the average of heat release rate, peak of heat release rate, average of effective heat of combustion, and total heat release (THR) of EP/DOPO-T-0.9 sample were decreased by 32%, 48%, 23%, and 31%, respectively, compared with the neat EP sample. Impressively, EP/DOPO-T thermosets acquired excellent flame retardancy under low loading of flame retardant.

Flame retardancy and toughening properties of epoxy composites containing ammonium polyphosphate microcapsules and expanded graphite

Ammonium polyphosphate microcapsules (BM (polybenzoxazine modified) APP) were prepared through the in situ ring-opening polymerization of allyl group containing benzoxazine monomers on the surfaces of ammonium polyphosphate (APP), and they were significantly hydrophobic than the APP. A flame retardant system of epoxy (EP) resin was prepared with BMAPP and expanded graphite (EG). Flame retardancy, the thermal degradation behavior, a mechanical property of EP and EP/BMAPP/EG composites was investigated through limited oxygen index, vertical burning test, cone calorimetry (CONE), and the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The flame retardancy tests indicated that the EG could improve the thermal performance, promote the charring, and enhance the char quality of EP/BMAPP. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to analyze the morphology and composition of the char residue formed during CONE testing, and to understand the mechanism of char formation. The results of TG-FTIR confirmed the possible mechanism of flame retardancy of EP/BMAPP/EG in the gas phase during combustion. The EG content effects on Young’s modulus, the tensile strength, and the fracture toughness ( KIC) of the EP/BMAPP composites were also investigated. The KIC of the composites containing 1% of EG and 10% of BMAPP increased by approximately 76% and 153%, respectively, compared to the neat matrix and EP/BMAPP-10%. The SEM images of the fractured surface indicated that the enhanced toughness of EP/BMAPP/EG composites mainly attributed to the debonding of the BMAPP and the subsequent plastic void growth of the matrix, as well as the crack deflection effect of the BMAPP/EG.

Imparting high flame retardancy to epoxy resin with ultra-low loading of 5,10-dihydro-phenophosphazine-10-oxide functioned triazine

High mechanical properties and flame retardancy of epoxy are important for its applications. A novel star-shaped flame-retardant 5,10-dihydro-phenohphosphazine-10-oxide functioned triazine (TRIDPPA) with high efficiency is synthesized, and its structure is characterized. TRIDPPA is used as the co-curing agent for diglycidyl ether of the bisphenol A/4,4-diaminodiphenyl methane system. The introduction of TRIDPPA greatly improves the flame retardancy of the cured epoxy resins. The epoxy resin (ER)/TRIDDPA1.0 resin acquires a limiting oxygen index value of 30.7% and UL-94 V-0 rating when the mass fraction of TRIDDPA is 1.0 wt% with only 0.086 wt% of phosphorus content. The cross-link density of ER/TRIDDPA1.0 is increased, and the glass transition temperature is improved by 5°C. Besides, tensile strength and toughness of ER/TRIDDPA1.0 are also enhanced.

Semivolatile organic compounds in surface microlayer and subsurface water of Dianshan Lake, Shanghai, China: implications for accumulation and interrelationship

Semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in surface microlayer (SML) and subsurface water (SSW) from Dianshan Lake were studied to investigate their occurrence, distributions, as well as enrichment and potential sources. A sample was concentrated by solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME). Identification and quantification were carried out by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Total SVOCs concentrations ranged from 25.93 to 47.49 μg/L in SSW and 38.19 to 77.23 μg/L in SML. The phthalic acid esters (PAE) concentrations in both SSW and SML are the highest of the total SVOC. The enrichment factors (EFs) of total SVOCs ranged from 0.80 to 2.98, while the highest EF was found in benzyl phthalate and dibutyl phthalate, compounds of PAEs (4.06). The EFs values calculated in this study were consistent with the EFs reported for other water ecosystems. Compared with other place, the EF of PAHs were in the normal level (0.88-2.37). The results of correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that at least three sources, i.e., agricultural residual pesticides, industrial sewage and miscellaneous sources, were responsible for the presence of SVOCs in Dianshan Lake examined, accounting for 94.16% of the total variance in the dataset. Environmental risk assessment revealed that a majority of SVOCs posed relatively low risks (the values of risk quotient were less than 0.1), while naphthalene, acenaphthene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, and dibutyl phthalat exhibited moderate risks (values of risk quotient were more than 0.1 but less than 1fore) to aquatic organisms.

Mechanism of degradation of a nitrogenous heterocycle induced by a reductive radical: decomposition of a sym-triazine ring

Cyanuric acid, a major component of many materials and chemicals, and also the most important intermediate in the degradation processes of sym-triazine compounds in the natural environment, as well as being used for water treatment, was selected to elucidate the mechanism of degradation of nitrogenous materials.

Intrinsic Flame-Retardant and Thermally Stable Epoxy Endowed by a Highly Efficient, Multifunctional Curing Agent

It is difficult to realize flame retardancy of epoxy without suffering much detriment in thermal stability. To solve the problem, a super-efficient phosphorus-nitrogen-containing reactive-type flame retardant, 10-(hydroxy(4-hydroxyphenyl)methyl)-5,10-dihydrophenophosphazinine-10-oxide (HB-DPPA) is synthesized and characterized. When it is used as a co-curing agent of 4,4'-methylenedianiline (DDM) for curing diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), the cured epoxy achieves UL-94 V-0 rating with the limiting oxygen index of 29.3%. In this case, the phosphorus content in the system is exceptionally low (0.18 wt %). To the best of our knowledge, it currently has the highest efficiency among similar epoxy systems. Such excellent flame retardancy originates from the exclusive chemical structure of the phenophosphazine moiety, in which the phosphorus element is stabilized by the two adjacent aromatic rings. The action in the condensed phase is enhanced and followed by pressurization of the pyrolytic gases that induces the blowing-out effect during combustion. The cone calorimeter result reveals the formation of a unique intumescent char structure with five discernible layers. Owing to the super-efficient flame retardancy and the rigid molecular structure of HB-DPPA, the flame-retardant epoxy acquires high thermal stability and its initial decomposition temperature only decreases by 4.6 °C as compared with the unmodified one.

Flame–retarded epoxy resin with high glass transition temperature cured by DOPO-containing H-benzimidazole

A halogen-free flame retardant of 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide-containing H-benzimidazole (DHBI) was synthesized and subsequently used as co-curing agent of 4,4′-diamino-diphenylmethane for diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A. The structure of DHBI was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton, carbon 13 and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectroscopy. A series of cured epoxy resins (EPs) were prepared and their flame retardancy, thermal stability, flexibility, and dielectric properties were investigated. The resulting cured EP (EP-10) with 7.45 wt% of DHBI successfully achieved UL 94 V-0 rate with limited oxygen index of 35.6% and without dropping phenomenon. Compared with the cured pristine EP (EP-00), the glass transition temperature of EP-10 was increased by 6.9°C, accompanied with an enhancement of flexible strength by 13.1 MPa and a decrement of dielectric constant by 0.3 at the testing frequency of 1 MHz.

Preparation and flame retardancy of DOPO–based epoxy resin containing bismaleimide

Epoxy resins were modified with 10-(2,5-dihydroxyl phenyl)-9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide and 1,1′-(methylenedi-4,1-phenylene) bismaleimide (BDM). The resulting blends were then cured with 4, 4′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone. Thermal properties of the cured epoxy resins were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Flame retardancy of the cured epoxy resins was checked by limiting oxygen index test, UL-94 vertical burning test, and cone calorimeter test. The char residue after cone calorimeter test was investigated by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray analyses. The results indicated that the cured resins exhibited high glass transition temperature and excellent flame-retardant properties. BDM promoted the carbonization property of phosphorus-containing epoxy resin and facilitated the formation of cross-linked char layer with compact and continuous structure, thus enhancing the flame-retardant properties.

Flame-retardant effect of a novel phosphaphenanthrene/triazine-trione bi-group compound on an epoxy thermoset and its pyrolysis behaviour

A novel phosphaphenanthrene/triazine-trione bi-group flame retardant TOD, containing two different chemical bridge bonds (aliphatic and aromatic) between flame-retarding groups, was synthesized to prepare satisfactory flame-retardant epoxy thermoset.

Flame retardant and toughening mechanisms of core–shell microspheres

Epoxy (EP) composites containing polystyrene-ammonium polyphosphate core–shell microspheres (CSP_PS-APP) were developed for flame retardant and toughening effects.

Synthesis and characterization of a novel fluorinated bismaleimide via a nucleophilic addition–elimination reaction and its polymeric networks

A novel fluorinated bismaleimide, OFCP-BMI, was designed and readily synthesized via the nucleophilic addition–elimination reaction of octafluorocyclopentene with maleimide-functionalized phenol.