Catalytic effect of exfoliated zirconium phosphate on the curing behavior of benzoxazine

In this paper, the effects of α-zirconium phosphate (i.e., α-ZrP) on the thermal curing of bisphenol A‐based benzoxazine (Ba) was studied by preparing resin systems consisting of Ba and α-ZrP (Ba/α-ZrP). The thermal curing behavior and mechanism of Ba/α-ZrP were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (in situ FTIR). The curing kinetics of Ba and Ba/α-ZrP were investigated by non-isothermal DSC. In situ FTIR results revealed that the addition of α-ZrP accelerated the curing process of Ba. The apparent activation energy (E) of Ba and Ba/α-ZrP gradually increased with the extent of the curing process (α). The thermal stability and flame resistance properties of the polybenzoxazine (PBa) system were investigated by thermogravimetric (TGA) and microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) analyses. These techniques revealed that the incorporation of α-ZrP was very efficient in improving the thermal stability and flame retardance of the PBa composite.