Fire retardancy of clay/carbon nanofiber hybrid sheet in fiber reinforced polymer composites

    Authors

    Z. F. Zhao; J. H. Gou; S. Bietto; C. Ibeh;D. Hui

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Compos. Sci. Technol.

    Keywords

    Nanocomposites; Carbon nanofiber; Nanoclay; Fire retardancy; Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding; FLAMMABILITY PROPERTIES; CLAY NANOCOMPOSITES; CARBON NANOTUBES; INTUMESCENTS; PERFORMANCE; Materials Science, Composites

    Abstract

    In this paper, two kinds of clay/carbon nanofiber hybrid sheets containing 0.05 wt% and 0.20 wt% of Cloisite Na(+) clay, were fabricated through a high-pressure filtration system. These sheets were integrated onto the surface of laminated composites like traditional continuous fiber mats through vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. The fire performance of the laminated composites was evaluated with cone calorimeter tests under an external radiant heat flux of 50 kW/m(2). Their residues were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analyses. It was found that the clay/nanofiber hybrid sheets survived on the combustion surface of composites and significantly reduced the heat release rate by similar to 60.5%. The protective clay layer reduces the heat release rates and the nanofiber network reinforces the clay layer against the air bubbling and melt flow of the products degraded from the polymer resin. The clay/carbon nanofiber hybrid sheet combines the barrier and insulator effects of the clays with the re-emitting heat effect of carbon nanofibers on the combustion surface of composites. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

    Journal Title

    Composites Science and Technology

    Volume

    69

    Issue/Number

    13

    Publication Date

    1-1-2009

    Document Type

    Article; Proceedings Paper

    Language

    English

    First Page

    2081

    Last Page

    2087

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000269295900008

    ISSN

    0266-3538

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