A Novel Bio-Based Zirconium Phosphonate as a Flame Retardant and Smoke Suppressant for Epoxy Resin

Although epoxy resin has been widely used in various fields, it still suffers from some problems including brittleness and flammability. In this study, a new phosphonic acid, N, N-bis(phosphomethyl) glycine (GDMP), was prepared by Mannich reaction with bio-based then novel layered zirconium phosphonate (ZrGDMP) synthesized using GDMP zirconyl chloride hydrate as reactants. The chemical structure of ZrGDMP well characterized 1H 31P NMR, SEM, XRD XPS. effect on the flame retardancy, smoke suppression, strengthening toughening performances matrix investigated evaluated. TGA results indicated that compared pure EP, ZrGDMP-EP composites showed higher char yield due to catalytic charring ZrGDMP. EP exhibited high flammability, while possessed excellent thermal stability remarkable fire resistance. PHRR, THR, TSP values 3wt% were obviously declined 39.6%, 40.2%, 24.9% these EP. Moreover, tensile impact tests implied addition can significantly reinforce toughness strength terms (24.8 kJ/m2) (57.7 MPa), which mainly contributed uniform dispersion within matrix.