posted on 2020-03-09, 12:35authored byDong Wang, Hongyun Peng, Yue Wu, Liping Zhang, Min Li, Mingming Liu, Yulu Zhu, Anli Tian, Shaohai Fu
The
traditional addition of phosphorus-containing flame retardants
could improve the flame retardance of polymeric materials, but it
usually deteriorates the mechanical strength and thermal stability.
Herein, we report an interlayer-confined synthesis of multilayer zirconium
phosphate-reduced graphene oxide (ZrP-RGO) nanoplates, which were
incorporated into cellulose nanofibers to fabricate the hierarchical
nanocellulose composites through a structural inspiration of nacre.
The lamellar barriers consisting of highly aligned ZrP-RGO nanoplates
along a planar orientation contribute to suppressing heat and mass
transfer between the flame zone and underlying matrix, which gives
rise to 75.1%, 71.4%, and 54.6% reductions in the peak heat release
rate, peak smoke release rate, and peak CO production rate of nanocellulose
composites, respectively. Moreover, the hierarchical nanocellulose
composites simultaneously achieve better thermal stability, mechanical
strength, and toughness compared to pure cellulose nanofibers. The
formation of bioinspired lamellar barriers provides an innovative
idea to significantly improve the flame retardance of nanocellulose
composites, as well as thermal stability and mechanical properties.