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We synthesized pristine mica (Mica) and N-octadecyl-N'-octadecyl imidazolium iodide (IM) modified mica (Mica-IM), characterized it, and applied it at 0.1–5.0 wt.% loading to prepare epoxy nanocomposites. Dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was carried out for the analysis of the cure potential and kinetics of epoxy/Mica and epoxy/Mica-IM curing reaction with amine curing agents at low loading of 0.1 wt.% to avoid particle aggregation. The dimensionless Cure Index (CI) was used for qualitative analysis of epoxy crosslinking in the presence of Mica and Mica-IM, while qualitative cure behavior and kinetics were studied by using isoconversional methods. The results indicated that both Mica and Mica-IM improved the curability of epoxy system from a Poor to Good state when varying the heating rate in the interval of 5–15 °C min−1. The isoconversional methods suggested a lower activation energy for epoxy nanocomposites with respect to the blank epoxy; thus, Mica and Mica-IM improved crosslinking of epoxy. The higher order of autocatalytic reaction for epoxy/Mica-IM was indicative of the role of liquid crystals in the epoxide ring opening. The glass transition temperature for nanocomposites containing Mica and Mica-IM was also lower than the neat epoxy. This means that nanoparticles participated the reaction because of being reactive, which decelerated segmental motion of the epoxy chains. The kinetics of the thermal decomposition were evaluated for the neat and mica incorporated epoxy nanocomposites epoxy with varying Mica and Mica-IM amounts in the system (0.5, 2.0 and 5.0 wt.%) and heating rates. The epoxy/Mica-IM at 2.0 wt.% of nanoparticle showed the highest thermal stability, featured by the maximum value of activation energy devoted to the assigned system. The kinetics of the network formation and network degradation were correlated to demonstrate how molecular-level transformations can be viewed semi-experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypropylene (PP) is a commodity plastic known for high rigidity and crystallinity, which is suitable for a wide range of applications. However, high flammability of PP has always been noticed by users as a constraint; therefore, a variety of additives has been examined to make PP flame-retardant. In this work, research papers on the flame retardancy of PP have been comprehensively reviewed, classified in terms of flame retardancy, and evaluated based on the universal dimensionless criterion of Flame Retardancy Index (FRI). The classification of additives of well-known families, i.e., phosphorus-based, nitrogen-based, mineral, carbon-based, bio-based, and hybrid flame retardants composed of two or more additives, was reflected in FRI mirror calculated from cone calorimetry data, whatever heat flux and sample thickness in a given series of samples. PP composites were categorized in terms of flame retardancy performance as Poor, Good, or Excellent cases. It also attempted to correlate other criteria like UL-94 and limiting oxygen index (LOI) with FRI values, giving a broad view of flame retardancy performance of PP composites. The collected data and the conclusions presented in this survey should help researchers working in the field to select the best additives among possibilities for making the PP sufficiently flame-retardant for advanced applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epoxy/clay nanocomposites have been extensively considered over years because of their low cost and excellent performance. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are unique 1D natural nanofillers with a hollow tubular shape and high aspect ratio. To tackle poor dispersion of the pristine halloysite (P-HNT) in the epoxy matrix, alkali surface-treated HNT (A-HNT) and epoxy silane functionalized HNT (F-HNT) were developed and cured with epoxy resin. Nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses were performed on epoxy nanocomposites containing 0.1 wt.% of P-HNT, A-HNT, and F-HNT. Quantitative analysis of the cure kinetics of epoxy/amine system made by isoconversional Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) and Friedman methods made possible calculation of the activation energy (Eα) as a function of conversion (α). The activation energy gradually increased by increasing α due to the diffusion-control mechanism. However, the average value of Eα for nanocomposites was lower comparably, suggesting autocatalytic curing mechanism. Detailed assessment revealed that autocatalytic reaction degree, m increased at low heating rate from 0.107 for neat epoxy/amine system to 0.908 and 0.24 for epoxy/P-HNT and epoxy/A-HNT nanocomposites, respectively, whereas epoxy/F-HNT system had m value of 0.072 as a signature of dominance of non-catalytic reactions. At high heating rates, a similar behavior but not that significant was observed due to the accelerated gelation in the system. In fact, by the introduction of nanotubes the mobility of curing moieties decreased resulting in some deviation of experimental cure rate values from the predicted values obtained using KAS and Friedman methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of samples based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) containing five different additives were prepared and their thermal stability and flammability were discussed. The samples first underwent flammability screening by using Pyrolysis Combustion Flow Calorimeter (PCFC) analyses. Then, four samples were selected for further investigations. PHB composites containing sepiolite (Sep.) inorganic nanofiller, and also organic ammonium polyphosphate (APP) were examined for flammability and thermal behavior using PCFC, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), flame test, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analyses. Moreover, burning behavior of samples were captured on a digital camera to give a deeper sense of their flammability character for comparison. The results revealed a significant improvement of flammability and thermal stability of composites, particularly in the presence of sepiolite with respect to the value obtained for unfilled PHB. Regarding TGA results, the char residue yield was increased to ca. 20.0 wt.% in the presence of sepiolite, while 0.0 wt.% was observed for PHB. PCFC measurements uncovered higher performance of PHB-Sep. sample as signaled by 40% reduction in the peak of heat release rate with respect to PHB. According to observations, PHB-Sep. sample showed non-dripping behavior with high capacity of charring in the presence of Sep. in a vertical flame test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]