Synthesis of DV-GO and its effect on the fire safety and thermal stability of bismaleimide

In this paper, functionalized graphene oxide was used as a flame retardant for 4, 4′-bismaleimidophenyl methane/2, 2′-diallyl bisphenol A (BDM/DBA) resins. The synergistic effect of graphene oxide and silicon-phosphorous containing flame retardant (DOPO-VTES) on the flame retardant property was systematically investigated. BDM/DBA resin containing 3 wt% (DOPO-VTES)-GO (DV-GO) achieved UL94 V-0 rating; the peak heat release (pHRR) value was reduced by 29% in the cone calorimetry test (CCT). TGA data showed that the maximum mass loss rate of decomposition decreased significantly and char residue increased to 34.9 wt% compared with that of the neat BDM/DBA resin. Furthermore, char residue characterization was investigated by SEM-EDX and Raman measurements. These results provided obvious evidence that the existence of DV-GO can catalyze the char formation, of which carbonaceous microstructures and the morphological structures can be observed. All the investigations showed that DV-GO was an effective additive to develop high performance resins with attractive flame retardant properties.