Heterostructured Graphene@Silica@Iron Phenylphosphinate for Fire-Retardant, Strong, Thermally Conductive Yet Electrically Insulated Epoxy Nanocomposites

Qiang Chen; Siqi Huo; Yixia Lu; Mingmei Ding; Jiabing Feng; Guobo Huang; Hang Xu; Ziqi Sun; Zhengzhou Wang; Pingan Song

doi:10.1002/smll.202310724

Heterostructured Graphene@Silica@Iron Phenylphosphinate for Fire-Retardant, Strong, Thermally Conductive Yet Electrically Insulated Epoxy Nanocomposites

Small. 2024 Mar 1:e2310724. doi: 10.1002/smll.202310724. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qiang Chen¹, Siqi Huo², Yixia Lu², Mingmei Ding¹, Jiabing Feng³, Guobo Huang⁴, Hang Xu¹, Ziqi Sun⁵, Zhengzhou Wang^{6

7}, Pingan Song^{2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, No.1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, 210098, China.
² Centre for Future Materials, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, 4300, Australia.
³ China-Australia Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, 314001, China.
⁴ School of Pharmaceutical and Materials Engineering, Taizhou University, 1139 Shifu Road, Taizhou, 318000, China.
⁵ School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia.
⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 201804, China.
⁸ School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, 4300, Australia.

PMID: 38429241
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202310724

Abstract

The portfolio of extraordinary fire retardancy, mechanical properties, dielectric/electric insulating performances, and thermal conductivity (λ) is essential for the practical applications of epoxy resin (EP) in high-end industries. To date, it remains a great challenge to achieve such a performanceportfolio in EP due to their different and even mutually exclusive governing mechanisms. Herein, a multifunctional additive (G@SiO₂ @FeHP) is fabricated by in situ immobilization of silica (SiO₂ ) and iron phenylphosphinate (FeHP) onto the graphene (G) surface. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of G, SiO₂ and FeHP, the addition of 1.0 wt% G@SiO₂ @FeHP enables EP to achieve a vertical burning (UL-94) V-0 rating and a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 30.5%. Besides, both heat release and smoke generation of as-prepared EP nanocomposite are significantly suppressed due to the condensed-phase function of G@SiO₂ @FeHP. Adding 1.0 wt% G@SiO₂ @FeHP also brings about 44.5%, 61.1%, and 42.3% enhancements in the tensile strength, tensile modulus, and impact strength of EP nanocomposite. Moreover, the EP nanocomposite exhibits well-preserved dielectric and electric insulating properties and significantly enhanced λ. This work provides an integrated strategy for the development of multifunctional EP materials, thus facilitating their high-performance applications.

Keywords: epoxy resin; graphene; integrated properties; iron phenylphosphinate; silica.

Abstract

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