On improving flame retardant and smoke suppression efficiency of epoxy resin doped with aluminum tri-hydroxide

Abstract

Aluminum tri-hydroxide (ATH) was selected as a retardant doped into epoxy resin (EP), and smoke suppression and flame retardancy of ATH/EP were investigated. The results showed that ATH-doped EP has superior performance resisting the flame development and smoke release to EP. Peak heat release rate of EP doped with 15-wt% ATH decreased by 28.49% in comparison with EP; total smoke release of it decreased by 17.65%; production rate of carbon monoxide decreased by 30.24%. The activation energy of it was much smaller than EP due to the decomposition of ATH, but it was 30–40 kJ mol −1 higher than EP in the second stage. Based on analysis of the residual carbon, it was confirmed that ATH can attract lots of heat to produce aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) films and H 2 O at high temperature. H 2 O decreases the production of flammable gas to inhibit combustion, and Al 2 O 3 films adhered to the residue carbon can insulate air to reduce combustion and smoke release.