Thermally stable and flame-retardant poly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite aerogel via a facile heat treatment

Poly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite aerogels with high thermal stability and flame retardancy were prepared with a facile heat treatment method, in which the poly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite aerogels was first prepared by an eco-friendly freeze-drying method, following by a heat treatment process. The structure of the aerogels before and after heat treatment process was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The thermal stability of the aerogel treated for 3 h at 200 °C was improved significantly, which was accompanied by a slight decrease of mechanical property. Meanwhile, cone calorimetry (CC) test revealed that the flame-retardant performance of the heat treated aerogel was improved remarkably.