SAMPE Journal - May/June 2013 - (Page 31)

Feature arTicle Innovative and Sustainable Approaches to Enhance Fire Resistance of Cellulosic Fibers for Green Polymer Composites T-D. Ngo, M-T. Ton-That, and W. Hu National Research Council of Canada, Boucherville, QC, Canada Email: Tridung.Ngo@imi.cnrc-nrc.gc.ca Abstract The incorporation of renewable resources in composite materials is a viable means to reduce environmental impact and support sustainability development in the composites industry. Cellulosic fiber polymer composites have received very much attraction for different industrial applications because of its low density and the renewable ability. However, the uses of cellulosic fibers in the composite are limited in many applications that require fire resistance due to their flammability and their low thermal resistance. This paper reports an innovative and sustainable treatment approaches to retard the burning of cellulosic fibers for composite production in which a minimum amount of non-toxic and low cost inorganic chemicals have been used. Different types of reacting minerals and different treatment parameters have been investigated in order to determine the most cost-effective treatment solution. The cellulosic fibers obtained from this approach become self-extinguished while there is no negative effect on fiber strength. The composite with the treated cellulosic fibers also shows their good fire resistance with minor effect on the mechanical properties. Thus this solution will open the door for the use of the cellulosic fibers in composites for applications where fire resistance is an important issue, particularly in aerospace, transportation, and construction. Introduction Natural fibers are renewable, cheap, and biodegradable. Plants, such as flax, cotton, hemp, jute, sisal, kenaf, ramie, bamboo, wood etc., used from time immemorial as a source of lignocellulosic fibers, are more and more often applied as the reinforcement of composites. Cellulose materials (fiber, film, powder, particle, pellet, chip, etc) are often flammable and have low thermal resistance. They can be burned easily and can also spread the fire rapidly in the presence of oxygen. Thus, their use either in direct or non-direct forms are limited in applications requiring fire resistance. Due to their flammability the use of cellulose materials in polymer composites is also limited in certain applications. Cellulose materials are treated with different flame retardants depending on the application, some examples of those applications are in furniture, textiles or composites. The most commonly used flame retardants are based on halogen1, phosphorous2-9, boron4,10,11, ammonium3,4,8, graphite12, alkaline-earth metallic compounds13 or mixtures thereof. To improve fire reTable 1. Description of cellulose fibers. sistance of organic polymer composites, the incorporation of flame retardants based on halogen, phosphorous, metallic hydroxide (magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium layer double hydroxide), metallic oxide (antimony oxide, boron oxide), silicate (clay, talc), etc, either alone or in combination with others in the polymer matrix has been widely used. All the compounds listed above have different drawbacks, such as negative impact on the environment as halogen based flame retardants, be washed off due to their good solubility in water as Boron, less effectiveness as flame retardants based on phosphorous, graphite or alkaline-earth metallic compounds, etc. The use of flame retardant incorporated in a polymer matrix alone does not satisfactorily resolve the flammability problem in cellulose-polymer composites, especially when the concentration of cellulose is quite significant in the formulation of the composite. This present work investigated a new approach for improving fire resistance of cellulose materials to be used in polymer composites, by coating cellulose fibers with a layer of effective chemicals. The focus of this development was to not negatively affect the mechanical properties of the obtained composite. This paper will report the work on improving fire resistance of cellulosic fibers without any negative effect on the fiber mechanical strength. The work also reports the improving fire resistance of cellulosic fibers composites. Experimentation Materials The cellulosic materials have been tested are shown in Table 1. Prior treated with the chemical the celluloses were cleaned with the detergent to remove the impurities and contaminants as much as possible then rinsed three times with de-mineralized water except the Whatman paper and the Govmark cotton pads. Due to the need for an environmen- SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 3, May/June 2013 31

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - May/June 2013

SAMPE Journal - May/June 2013
Contents
President’s Message
Technical Director’s Corner
Mechanical Properties of Bio-Fibers for Composite Materials
SAMPE Journal Editorial Calender
Corporate Partners
Materials & Products
Welcome SAMPE’s Newest Members
SAMPE Proceedings
Resin Transfer Moulding of Composite Panels with Bio-Based Resins
Europe News & Views
SAMPE Europe’s SETEC 13 Wuppertal, Germany
Innovative and Sustainable Approaches to Enhance Fire Resistance of Cellulosic Fibers for Green Polymer Composites
Class of 2013-SAMPE Fellows
The SAMPE Foundation
SAMPE Tech 2013|Wichita, KS
SAMPE Tech 2014|Call for Papers
Industry News
Perspectives
SAMPE 2013|Long Beach
SAMPE 2013 Exhibitor Listing
SAMPE 2013 Show Floor
SAMPE 2013 Exhibitor Products & Services
Advertiser’s Index
Resource Center
Industry Events Calendar
Chapter Contacts

SAMPE Journal - May/June 2013