Flame Retardant Properties of Boric Acid and Antimony Oxide Accompanying With Huntite and Hydromagnesite in the Polymer Composites

In this study, boric acid and antimony oxide were used as auxiliary flame retardant materials accompanied by huntite and hydromagnesite. To avoid the deteroriation of mechanical properties, a reduced additive amount is required in polymer composites, and it can achieve improved flame resisting properties. The use of finer powders also helps to give better flame retardant properties. Hence, the minerals were utilized to produce polymer nanocomposites to investigate improved flame retardancy with synergetic effects. The ground minerals were added to an epoxy resin with different loading levels and sizes. The composites were characterized by using DTA-TG, FTIR, SEM-EDS and surface profilometry. UL94-flame retardancy tests were undertaken as a main objective of this research. The size distribution and mineral type/content effects were measured. It was concluded that the flame retardant properties were improved with increasing mineral content and decreasing size. Boric acid and antimony oxide positively influenced the flame-retardance of flammable polymers when combined with huntite and hydromagnesite.