Abstract
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely studied because of its excellent properties, which make TiO2 materials suitable for various applications. Here we introduce TiO2 particles with different hierarchical structures which can improve the fire safety of epoxy resin (EP). Both amorphous hydrous TiO2 solid spheres and urchinlike mesoporous TiO2 hollow spheres (UMTHS) can enhance the thermal stability of EP composites. Moreover, cone test results demonstrate that EP/UMTHS with a 2 wt % loading has the lowest heat release rate, total heat release, smoke production rate, and total smoke production values among all the samples. The following plausible mechanism is proposed: urchinlike shells of UMTHS come into contact with each other during the stirring process and partly form a larger shell structure through a fusion process. The physical barrier formed by the fused shell can both shield the composites from external radiation and postpone the transfer of heat and flammable pyrolysis gases.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1341-1348 |
| Journal | Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Online published | 29 Dec 2016 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Feb 2017 |
Funding
This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0802802); National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0800605); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21374111); the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (9042047, CityU 11208914); and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WK2320000032).
Research Keywords
- LITHIUM STORAGE PROPERTIES
- FLAME RETARDANCY
- ENERGY-STORAGE
- NANOCOMPOSITES
- COMPOSITES
- NANOPARTICLES
- FABRICATION
- NANOSHEETS
- SYSTEM
- RUTILE