Tentative links between thermal diffusivity and fire-retardant properties in poly(methyl methacrylate)–metal oxide nanocomposites

Blandine Friederich (1) , Abdelghani Laachachi (1) , Michel Ferriol (1) , David Ruch (2, 3) , Marianne Cochez (1) , Valérie Toniazzo (4)

1 LMOPS - Laboratoire Matériaux Optiques, Photonique et Systèmes
2 LTI - Laboratoire de technologies industrielles
3 CRP Henri Tudor - Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor [Headquarters]
4 Centre de recherche Henry Tudor

Possible relationships between fire-retardant properties and thermal diffusivity for poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) filled by melt blending with titanium dioxide (TiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and boehmite (AlOOH) were investigated for a better understanding of the mode of action of metal oxides as fire-retardants (FR) in PMMA. Fire-retardancy was measured with a cone calorimeter and thermal diffusivity (α) by Laser Flash Analysis (LFA). LFA measurements have shown that heat dispersion is higher with titanium dioxide and boehmite than with alumina despite a larger surface area. For thermal diffusivity, discrepancies between the different nanofillers were only visible from 10 wt% onwards. Thermal degradation of PMMA-oxide nanocomposites and their thermal diffusivity could be linked. Moreover, a bi-linear relationship between the peak of heat release rate (pHRR) and the average of heat release rate (AHRR) showed the occurrence of a barrier effect.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Blandine Friederich, Abdelghani Laachachi, Michel Ferriol, David Ruch, Marianne Cochez, et al.. Tentative links between thermal diffusivity and fire-retardant properties in poly(methyl methacrylate)–metal oxide nanocomposites. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 2010, 95, pp.1183-1193. ⟨10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.04.008⟩. ⟨hal-00554375⟩