The preparation and mechanism of permanently flame retardancy, antistatic, good toughness and high transparent poly(methyl methacrylate)

Abstract A novel kind of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) copolymer, P(MMA‐co‐HEMAP), with permanently flame retardancy, antistatic, good toughness and high transparency properties was synthesized through the addition of 2‐hydroxyethyl 2‐methyl‐2‐propenoate phosphated (HEMAP), which was chosen as the flame retardant and the antistatic agent. The included phosphine group is necessary for flame retardancy and acryl phosphate group that could absorb water to realize antistatic property while having good compatibility with methyl methacrylate (MMA). Different from the significantly reduction of transparency happened in traditional modification method, the optical property of the P(MMA‐co‐HEMAP) copolymers keeps almost unchanged comparing to that of neat PMMA in the visible range. And the peak Heat Release Rate (pHRR) and Total Heat Release (THR) of the 30PhrHEMAP were significantly reduced by 40% and 36.2%, respectively, while the Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) increased from 17.8 to 24.5%. The HEMAP decomposed during the combustion process to form polyphosphoric acid, which promotes dehydration and carbonization of polymer matrix to form a cross‐linking yield char and it would reduce fire spread. Besides, the surface resistance of the 30PhrHEMAP could be reduced down to 10 10 Ω which could achieve antistatic effect. The hydrophilic groups, acryl phosphate on the surface of copolymer was able to absorb moisture from the air for antistatic effects. Furthermore, the toughness of the copolymers was also greatly improved compared to that of neat PMMA. This research provided a method for preparing PMMA copolymer and the resultant P(MMA‐co‐HEMAP) copolymers can significantly improve the three properties simultaneously for the first time.