A new intumescent flame retardant containing phosphorus and nitrogen: Preparation, thermal properties and application to UV curable coating

A novel intumescent flame retardant piperazine-N,N′-bis(acryloxyethylaryl-phosphoramidate) (N-PBAAP) containing phosphorus and nitrogen used for UV curable coating was synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), 1H and 31P nuclear magnetic resonances (NMRs). The thermal degradation and volatilized products of the N-PBAAP cured film were monitored by real time Fourier transform infrared (RT-FTIR) and thermal gravimetric-Fourier transform infrared (TG-FTIR) technique, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to investigate the surface morphology of the residual char. And possible mechanism for the thermal degradation of N-PBAAP film was proposed. To investigate the flame retardancy of N-PBAAP in UV curable coatings, a series of UV curable intumescent flame retardant resins were obtained by blending N-PBAAP with EA (epoxy acrylate oligomer) in different ratios. The flammability and thermal properties of the cured films were studied by Microscale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In MCC test, the peak heat release rates (pHRRs) of the blends were all lowered by the addition of N-PBAAP comparing with the pure EA. And TG results revealed that N-PBAAP can greatly enhance the char residues of EA films at high temperature region.