Effect of zinc oxide on properties of phenolic foams/halogen-free flame retardant system

ABSTRACT A halogen‐free flame retardant system consisting of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) as an acid source, blowing agent, pentaerythritol (PER) as a carbonific agent and zinc oxide (ZnO) as a synergistic agent, was used in this work to enhance flame retardancy of phenolic foams. ZnO was incorporated into flame retardant formulation at different concentrations to investigate the flammability of flame retardant composite phenolic foams (FRCPFs). The synergistic effects of ZnO on FRCPFs were evaluated by limited oxygen index (LOI), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), cone calorimeter tests, and images of residues. Results showed that the flame retardant significantly increased the LOI of FRCPFs. Compared with PF, heat release rate (HRR), total heat release (THR), effective heat of combustion (EHC), production or yield of carbon monoxide (COP or COY) and Oxygen consumption (O 2 C) of FRCPFs all remarkably decreased. However specific extinction area (SEA) and total smoke release (TSR) significantly increased, which agreed with the gas‐phase flame retardancy mechanism of the flame retardant system. The results indicated that FRCPFs have excellent fire‐retardant performance and less smoke release. And the bending and compression strength were decreased gradually with the increase of ZnO. The comprehensive properties of FRCPFs were better when the amount of ZnO was 1∼1.5%. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 42730.