Flame retardancy of a novel high transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) modified with phosphorus-containing compound

It is challenge for improving the flame retardancy of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and meanwhile keeping its inherent high transparency. In this paper, a phosphorus containing monomer synthesized by our group is introduced into PMMA via radical copolymerization to prepare a flame retardant and transparent modified PMMA. The structure and properties of the obtained copolymer is characterized. With 15% mol of the phosphorus containing monomer involved, the copolymer exhibits a comparable transparency with PMMA, and its limit oxygen index (LOI) reaches 27.5% and passes UL-94 V-0. The flame retardance mechanism of the copolymer is further analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), cone calorimetry, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared light spectrograph (FT-IR).