Effect of Compounded Aluminum Hydroxide Flame Retardants on the Flammability and Smoke Suppression Performance of Asphalt Binders

Kai Zhu; Yapeng Yang; Chenghang Lin; Qiang Wang; Dong Ye; Haojia Jiang; Ke Wu

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c08094

Effect of Compounded Aluminum Hydroxide Flame Retardants on the Flammability and Smoke Suppression Performance of Asphalt Binders

ACS Omega. 2024 Jan 3;9(2):2803-2814. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c08094. eCollection 2024 Jan 16.

Authors

Kai Zhu^{1

2}, Yapeng Yang¹, Chenghang Lin^{1

3}, Qiang Wang¹, Dong Ye¹, Haojia Jiang^{1

4}, Ke Wu^{2

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ College of Quality and Safety Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, China.
² Center of Balance Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310007, China.
³ Taizhou Special Equipment Inspection and Testing Research Institute, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318000, China.
⁴ Huzhou tobacco company Changxing branch, Huzhou, Zhejiang 313100, China.
⁵ The Engineering Research Center of Oceanic Sensing Technology and Equipment, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, Zhejiang 316021, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Offshore Geotechnics and Material of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.

Abstract

Compounded aluminum hydroxide (ATH) flame retardants have been widely used for their low cost and environmentally friendly characteristics. However, previous research lacks a systematic and comprehensive comparison. In addition, the combustion characteristics and phase characterization of asphalt binders are not taken into account either. In this work, flame retardants, for instance, APP, Sb₂O₃, ZB, and LDHs, were compounded with ATH. The flame retardant behavior, together with the smoke suppression behavior, of asphalt binders with compounded flame retardants was determined by LOI and CCT. Furthermore, mechanisms on flame retardants were investigated. It was found that ATH compounded with ZB significantly reduced the heat smoke release and suppressed the formation of toxic volatiles during asphalt combustion. This was because ATH/ZB facilitated the formation of polyaromatic structures and improved the resistance of the char layer. ATH compounded with APP showed an antagonistic effect in the limiting oxygen test because the reaction between ATH and APP inhibited and delayed the decomposition of ATH during asphalt combustion with more aluminum phosphate presenting relatively poor barrier properties produced.