Effect of phosphorous-modified silica on the flame retardancy of polypropylene based nanocomposites

Surface modification of various silicas by phosphorous agents was carried out with the aim to use these particles as flame retardant additive in a polypropylene matrice (PP) at low content (10 wt%). Thermal and flammability properties of PP/modified silica (PP-Tm-10%, PP-Zm-10%) were studied using TGA, PCFC and cone calorimeter and compared to those conferred by pure silica (PP-T-10%, PP-Z-10%). Quite surprisingly the untreated fillers induce the most significant reduction of peak of Heat Release Rate (50% decrease) while the surface modification by phosphorous agents does not lead to the expected effect on the fire behavior of PP composite. This phenomenon was related to the morphology and rheological behavior of the various PP composites. Indeed, the higher the storage modulus at low frequencies is, the better the fire behavior is, because of the induced barrier effect. Moreover, the addition of non modified silicas leads to a decrease of 10 s of the TTI. This phenomenon was related to the formation of bubbles after the PP melting during cone calorimeter test.