Experimental and quantitative assessment of flame retardancy by the shielding effect in layered silicate epoxy nanocomposites

A quantitative experimental assessment of flame retardancy by the heat shielding in epoxy layered silicate nanocomposite (EP/TPPMMT) is presented. Online heat flux measurements and temperature monitoring within the specimen are performed during the burning in the cone calorimeter. For EP the surface layer equals a pyrolysis front. The reradiation by the hot surface corresponds to the fourth power of the pyrolysis temperature. The surface reradiation (around 10 kW m−2) is thus fairly invariable over burning time and different external heat fluxes. Further, the thermal feedback of the flame is approximated to 20 kW m−2 for both EP and EP/TPPMMT and invariable over different irradiations. Thus the net heat fluxes transformed to the fuel release rate within the pyrolysis front of EP are increased to 45–80 kW m−2 when irradiations of 35–70 kW m−2 are applied. For a residue-forming EP/TPPMMT the surface temperature and thus the reradiation (42–68 kW m−2) crucially increases compared to EP and with increasing irradiation. The net heat fluxes are reduced to 13–22 kW m−2 accordingly. This quantitative assessment of the heat shielding in EP/TPPMMT goes along with proportional and consistent improvement in the fire performance, such as the pyrolysis front velocity, the heat release rate (HRR) characteristics such as averaged and quasi-steady-state HRR and the peak HRR (PHRR). The heat shielding is proven to be the only major flame retardancy effect occurring in nanocomposites based on non-charring polymers.