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Influence of the zeolite acidity on its synergistic action with a flame-retarding polymeric intumescent formulation

  • Composites & nanocomposites
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Abstract

Despite the vast available literature on the synergistic action between zeolites and intumescent formulations, the influence of the acidity of the zeolite on the flame-retardant properties of the materials has not yet been properly addressed. This work investigates the effect of the concentration and the strength of the acidic sites of faujasite Y zeolites on their synergistic action with an intumescent formulation composed of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and pentaerythritol (PER) in a polypropylene matrix. The results from the limiting oxygen index, cone calorimetry and glow-wire indicate that the zeolites with higher concentration of moderate strength acidic sites can catalyse more efficiently the reaction between APP and PER, which produces phosphate esters, precursors of char, enhancing the flame-retardant properties. However, an over increase in the acidic sites strength shows the opposite effect, as the zeolite can be prematurely deactivated during the initial steps of char formation. Therefore, the increase in the concentration of the faujasite Y acidic sites with moderate strength might be a good strategy in order to obtain materials with better flame-retardant properties.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed thanks to CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), FAPERJ (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) and INOMAT (Instituto Nacional de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação em Materiais Complexos Funcionais) financial support. This study was financed in part by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, CT, Bloco A, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-909, Brazil

    Simone Pereira da Silva Ribeiro, Raíssa Carvalho Martins, Guilherme Mendes Barbosa, Marco Antonio Chaer Nascimento & Regina Sandra Veiga Nascimento

  2. Programa de Engenharia Civil, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ), POB68, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 50621945 - 970, Brazil

    Monique Amaro de Freitas Rocha & Alexandre Landesmann

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  1. Simone Pereira da Silva Ribeiro
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  2. Raíssa Carvalho Martins
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  3. Guilherme Mendes Barbosa
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  4. Monique Amaro de Freitas Rocha
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Correspondence to Simone Pereira da Silva Ribeiro.

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Ribeiro, S.P.S., Martins, R.C., Barbosa, G.M. et al. Influence of the zeolite acidity on its synergistic action with a flame-retarding polymeric intumescent formulation. J Mater Sci 55, 619–630 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-04047-w

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