Construction of polylactic acid-based flame retardant composites by zinc oxide and bamboo carbon

• Published in: Carbon Letters 2024-03, Vol.34 (2), p.665-675
• Main Authors: Ling, Mengyao, Yin, Ningning, Chen, Yifan, Zhou, Zenan, Chen, Haifeng, Dai, Chunping, Huang, Jingda, Zhang, Wenbiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Automotive materials; Bamboo; Biodegradable materials; Biodegradation; Carbon sources; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composite materials; Cotton fabrics; Environmental protection; Ethanol; Flame retardants; Load; Materials Engineering; Materials Science; Metal oxides; Nanotechnology; Original Article; Permeability; Phosphorus; Phytic acid; Plastics; Polylactic acid; Polymers; Raw materials; Thermal stability; Urea; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 1976-4251; 2233-4998
• DOI: 10.1007/s42823-023-00663-4

Polylactic acid (PLA) is often used in the preparation of environmentally friendly biodegradable polymer plastics, and how to improve the flame retardant performance of polylactic acid has been concerned by experts and scholars. Here, we provide a new idea, using bamboo activated carbon as the main material, and phytic acid, urea and Zn(NO 3 ) 2 ·6(H 2 O) as modifiers to produce a new type of carbon flame retardant. It has bamboo activated carbon as carbon source; second, it has P, N elements and metal oxides. The two synergistically play a flame retardant role on polylactic acid. The polylactic acid composite showed good thermal stability, from no grade optimization to V-0 in the UL-94 test, and the limiting oxygen index was also increased from 20.1 to 31.2%. The above tests show that bamboo activated carbon loaded with ZnO has a good flame retardant effect on polylactic acid.