Covalently functionalized graphene oxide wrapped by silicon–nitrogen-containing molecules: preparation and simultaneous enhancement of the thermal stability, flame retardancy and mechanical properties of epoxy resin nanocomposites
Yanlong Sui, Lijie Qu, Peihong Li, Xueyan Dai, Qiangsheng Fang, Chunling Zhang, Ying Wang
Abstract
a chemical modification process and applied to enhance the thermal stability, fire resistance, and mechanical properties of epoxy resin (EP). Herein, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to explore the structure and morphology of FR-fGO to overcome the fact that the FGO cannot strongly bond with the polymer matrix. With the incorporation of FR-fGO into EP, the thermal stability improved and the total heat release decreased compared with pure EP. Meanwhile, FR-fGO composites significantly reduced the amount of flammable and toxic volatiles. A possible flame-retardant mechanism of FR-fGO was deduced from a theoretical analysis of the chemical bond energy and the experimental results of thermal decomposition: namely, well-dispersed FR-fGO nanosheets constituted a physical barrier, with an Si-N-containing synergy system forming a highly graphitized residual char with an Si-containing cross-linked network. The enhancement in mechanical properties demonstrated that the composites had remarkable compatibility. This study provides a novel modification strategy to improve the dispersion and flame retardance of graphene.