FIRE-SAFE POLYMERS and POLYMER COMPOSITES September 2004 6
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DOT/FAA/AR-04/11 Fire-Safe Polymers and Polymer Office of Aviation Research Washington, D.C. 20591 Composites September 2004 Final Report This document is available to the U.S. public through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia 22161. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturer's names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. This document does not constitute FAA certification policy. Consult your local FAA aircraft certification office as to its use. This report is available at the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center’s Full-Text Technical Reports page: actlibrary.act.faa.gov in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF). Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. DOT/FAA/AR-04/11 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date FIRE-SAFE POLYMERS AND POLYMER COMPOSITES September 2004 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Huiqing Zhang 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Polymer Science and Engineering University of Massachusetts Amhurst, MA 01003 11. Contract or Grant No. 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Office of Aviation Research 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, DC 20591 ANM-110 15. Supplementary Notes The FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center COTR was Dr. Richard Lyon. Copyright by Huiqing Zhang 2003 All Rights Reserved 16. Abstract The intrinsic relationships between polymer structure, composition, and fire behavior have been explored to develop new fire-safe polymeric materials. Three milligram-scale methods (pyrolysis-combustion flow calorimetry (PCFC), simultaneous thermal analysis, and pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)) have been combined to fully characterize the thermal decomposition and flammability of polymers and polymer composites. Thermal stability, mass loss rate, char yield, and properties of decomposition volatiles were found to be the most important parameters in determining polymer flammability. Most polymers decompose by either an unzipping or a random chain scission mechanism with an endothermic decomposition of 100-900 J/g. Aromatic or heteroaromatic rings, conjugated double or triple bonds, and heteroatoms such as halogens, N, O, S, P, and Si, are the basic structural units for fire-resistant polymers. The flammability of polymers can also be successfully estimated by combining the pyrolysis GC/MS results or chemical structures with the thermogravimetric analysis. The thermal decomposition and flammability of two groups of inherently fire-resistant polymers—poly(hydroxyamide) (PHA) and its derivatives and bisphenol C (BPC II) polyarylates—have been systematically studied. PHA and most of its derivatives have extremely low heat release rates and very high char yields upon combustion. PHA and its halogen derivatives can completely cyclize into quasi-polybenzoxazole structures at low temperatures. However, the methoxy and phosphate derivatives show a very different behavior during decomposition and combustion. Molecular modeling shows that the formation of an enol intermediate is the rate-determining step in the thermal cyclization of PHA. BPC II-polyarylate is another extremely flame- resistant polymer. It can be used as an efficient flame-retardant agent in copolymers and blends. From the PCFC results, the total heat of combustion of these copolymers or blends changes linearly with composition, but the change of maximum heat release rates also depends on the chemical structure of the components. The flammability of various polymers and polymer composites measured by PCFC; cone calorimeter, ASTM E1354; and the Ohio State University (OSU) calorimeter, ASTM E906, were also compared. For pure polymers, there was a relatively good correlation between different methods. However, for polymer composites with inert fillers or flame-retardant additives, the OSU and cone calorimetries are more suitable evaluation methods. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Polymer, Fire, Flammability, Thermal analysis, Combustion This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia 22161. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 209 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xix 1. FIRE AND POLYMERS 1-1 1.1 Introduction 1-1 1.2 Polymer Combustion Process 1-2 1.3 Standard Assessments and Tests 1-3 1.4 Flame-Retardant Chemistry 1-4 1.5 Inhibition of Polymer Combustion 1-5 1.5.1 Intrinsically Fire-Resistant Polymers 1-5 1.5.2 Flame-Retardant Additives 1-6 1.6 Thermal Decomposition Mechanisms of Polymers 1-11 1.7 Experimental Techniques for Thermal Decomposition of Polymers 1-12 2. QUANTATIVE MEASUREMENTS ON THE THERMAL DECOMPOSITION AND FLAMMABILITY OF POLYMERS 2-1 2.1 Introduction 2-1 2.2 Methodology of Flammability Calculations 2-2 2.2.1 Calculation of the Composition of the Volatiles 2-3 2.2.2 Calculation of Total Heat of Combustion and Heat Release Capacity of Polymers 2-4 2.3 Experimental 2-5 2.3.1 Pyrolysis GC/MS 2-5 2.3.2 Simultaneous Thermal Analysis 2-5 2.3.3 Pyrolysis-Combustion Flow Calorimeter 2-6 2.3.4 Materials 2-7 2.4 Results 2-8 2.4.1 Thermal Stability and Decomposition Process of Polymers 2-8 2.4.2 Thermal Decomposition Products of Polymers 2-13 2.4.3 Flammability 2-16 2.4.4 Bond Dissociation Energies of the Polymers 2-18 iii 2.4.5 Flammability Calculated by Pyrolysis GC/MS and STA Results 2-21 2.4.6 Flammability Estimated by Using Chemical Structure and TGA Results 2-22 2.5 Discussion 2-28 3. LOW FLAMMABILITY AND THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF POLY (HYDROXYAMIDE) AND ITS DERIVATIVES 3-1 3.1 Introduction 3-1 3.2 Experimental 3-2 3.2.1 Materials 3-2 3.2.2 Film Preparation 3-3 3.2.3 Characterization 3-3 3.3 Results 3-3 3.3.1 Thermal Stability and Decomposition Process of PHAs 3-3 3.3.2 Flammability 3-10 3.3.3 Characterization of Chars by IR and Elemental Analysis 3-13 3.3.4 Identification of Volatiles by GC/MS 3-15 3.3.5 Thermal Decomposition Mechanisms 3-19 3.4 Discussion 3-23 4. FIRE-RESISTANT, UV/VISIBLE-SENSITIVE POLYARYLATES, COPOLYMERS, AND BLENDS 4-1 4.1 Introduction 4-1 4.2 Experimental 4-2 4.2.1 Materials 4-2 4.2.2 Characterization 4-2 4.3 Results 4-2 4.3.1 Flammability and Thermal Decomposition of BPA-Polyarylates 4-2 4.3.2 Thermal Decomposition and Flammability of Homopolyarylates 4-3 4.3.3 UV/Visible-Sensitive Chalcon II-Polyarylate 4-6 4.3.4 Thermal Decomposition and Flammability of Copolymers and Terpolymers 4-8 iv 4.3.5 Thermal Decomposition and Flammability of Blends 4-12 4.4 Discussion 4-15 5. EFFECTS OF FLAME-RETARDANT ADDITIVES AND CORRELATIONS AMONG PCFC, OSU, AND CONE CALORIMETERS 5-1 5.1 Introduction 5-1 5.2 Experimental 5-2 5.2.1 Test Samples 5-2 5.2.2 Sample Preparation 5-2 5.2.3 Characterization 5-2 5.3 Results 5-5 5.3.1 Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)/Clay Nanocomposites 5-5 5.3.2 Poly(Ether Ether Ketone) and Composites 5-7 5.3.3 Xydar and Its Composites 5-12 5.3.4 Polyphthalamides and Composites 5-17 5.3.5 Epoxy Resins With Phosphate Flame Retardants 5-28 5.3.6 Ignitability 5-32 5.3.7 Heat Release Rate 5-33 5.3.8 Correlation Between Different Flammability Tests 5-35 5.4 Discussion 5-39 6. STRUCTURE-COMPOSITION-FLAMMABILITY RELATIONSHIPS OF POLYMERS 6-1 6.1 Introduction 6-1 6.2 Experimental 6-1 6.2.1 Materials 6-1 6.2.2 Characterization 6-1 6.3 Chemical Structure 6-1 6.3.1 Main Chain—Polysulfones 6-1 6.3.2 Semiorganic Network Structure—Polycarbynes and Polysilynes 6-11 6.3.3 Substituents 6-14 6.3.4 Flame-Retardant Comonomers 6-20 6.4 Composition—Copolymers and Blends 6-26 6.4.1 Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)/Polystyrene Random Copolymers 6-26 6.4.2 Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)/Polystyrene Blends 6-26 v 6.5 Molecular Weight 6-28 6.5.1 Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) 6-28 6.5.2 Polystyrene 6-30 6.5.3 Poly(Ethylene Oxide) 6-32 6.5.4 Mechanisms of the Effects of the Molecular Weight 6-32 6.6 Free-Radical Scavenger—TEMPO 6-33 6.6.1 Polystyrene or PMMA/TEMPO Blends 6-34 6.6.2 The PMMA/PS Random Copolymers Initiated by TEMPO 6-34 6.7 Discussion 6-38 7. MOLECULAR MODELING OF THERMAL CYCLIZATION OF POLY(HYDROXYAMIDE) 7-1 7.1 Introduction 7-1 7.2 Previous Experimental Results 7-1 7.3 Results 7-3 7.4 Discussion 7-7 8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8-1 8.1 Conclusions 8-1 8.1.1 Characterization of Thermal Decomposition and Flammability of Polymers 8-1 8.1.2 Inherently Fire-Resistant Polymers 8-2 8.1.3 Effects of Flame-Retardant Additives and Correlations Among Different Flammability Tests 8-4 8.1.4 Structure, Composition, and Flammability Relationships 8-5 8.1.5 Thermal Cyclization Mechanism of PHA 8-6 8.2 Recommendations 8-6 9 REFERENCES 9-1 10.