Superelastic and Fire-Retardant Nano-/Microfibrous Sponges for High-Efficiency Warmth Retention

Warmth retention equipment for personal cold protection is highly demanded in freezing weather; however, most present warmth retention materials suffer from high thermal conductivity, weak mechanical properties, and strong flammability, resulting in serious security risks. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate nano-/microfibrous sponges with superelasticity, robust flame retardation, and effective warmth retention performance via direct electrospinning. The three-dimensional fluffy sponges with low volume density and high porosity are constructed by accurately regulating the relative humidity; meanwhile, the mechanically robust polyamide-imide nanofibers with high limit oxygen index (LOI) are innovatively introduced to improve the structural stability and flammability of the nano-/microfibrous sponges. Strikingly, the developed nano-/microfibrous sponges exhibit ultralight characteristics (6.9 mg cm^-3), superelasticity (∼0% plastic deformation after 100 compression tests), effective flame retardant with LOI of 26.2%, and good heat preservation ability (thermal conductivity of 24.6 mW m^-1 K^-1). This work may shed light on designing superelastic and flame-retardant warmth retention materials for various applications.

Covalently functionalized graphene oxide wrapped by silicon-nitrogen-containing molecules: preparation and simultaneous enhancement of the thermal stability, flame retardancy and mechanical properties of epoxy resin nanocomposites

A novel functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) wrapped with Si-N-containing flame retardant (FR-fGO) was successfully synthesized via a chemical modification process and applied to enhance the thermal stability, fire resistance, and mechanical properties of epoxy resin (EP). Herein, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to explore the structure and morphology of FR-fGO to overcome the fact that the FGO cannot strongly bond with the polymer matrix. With the incorporation of FR-fGO into EP, the thermal stability improved and the total heat release decreased compared with pure EP. Meanwhile, FR-fGO composites significantly reduced the amount of flammable and toxic volatiles. A possible flame-retardant mechanism of FR-fGO was deduced from a theoretical analysis of the chemical bond energy and the experimental results of thermal decomposition: namely, well-dispersed FR-fGO nanosheets constituted a physical barrier, with an Si-N-containing synergy system forming a highly graphitized residual char with an Si-containing cross-linked network. The enhancement in mechanical properties demonstrated that the composites had remarkable compatibility. This study provides a novel modification strategy to improve the dispersion and flame retardance of graphene.

A green self-assembled organic supermolecule as an effective flame retardant for epoxy resin

In this study, a green organic supermolecule as an effective flame retardant for epoxy resin was prepared.

Chitosan and imide-functional Fe3O4 nanoparticles to prepare new xanthene based poly(ether-imide) nanocomposites

In this work a new series of multifunctional nanocomposites were synthesized based on a soluble poly(ether-imide).