From the more than 70 posters presented at FRPM 2019, the scientific committee designated three prizewinners, summarised below:
- 1st prize: Marija Čolović et al., National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia (P47)
- 2nd prize: Weronika Tabaka et al., BAM, Germany (P35)
- 3rd prize: Nick Wolter et al., Fraunhofer IFAM, University of Bremen, Germany (P58)
Poster P47 (1st prize): Novel flame retardant polyamide 6 copolymer. Marija Čolović et al., National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia, presented work testing the reaction of the phosphorus PIN FR, DOPO, into the caprolactam monomer of polyamide 6. This proved compatible with polymerisation and melt extrusion and retention of material properties of the polyamide polymer. 10% DOPO loading enabled to achieve UL94-V0.
Poster P58: Manufacturing of fiber reinforced polybenzoxazine with advanced fire, smoke and toxicity properties. Nick Wolter et al., Fraunhofer IFAM, University of Bremen, Germany, studied flame retardancy of basalt fibre reinforced polybenzoxazine, using RDP (phosphorus PIN FR). 10% loading RDP enabled achievement of UL94-V0 at 3.7 mm (already achieved by the neat polymer-fibre compound) and showed high potential to fulfil EU railway standard HL3 (Hazard Level) for external application and HL2 for internal application, but also improved processing in terms of decreasing viscosity and increasing pot-life of the resin. Furthermore, RDP influences the reaction to small flame behaviour by preventing a delamination of the composite.
Poster P35: Bench-scale fire stability testing – assessment of protective coatings on carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites, Weronika Tabaka et al., BAM, Germany. Fire safety is a major challenge for carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) in applications such as aviation, maritime and buildings. Protective coatings were tested at bench scale for fire performance and ultimate load failure, for a composite of carbon fibres in epoxy resin. At this scale, different coatings showed to be effective in providing thermal insulation and prolonging time to structural failure: cellulose nanofiber/clay coating, vermiculite with different PIN flame retardants, intumescent based on expandable graphite.
Other posters included:
- Dan Meng, Beijing University (P32) integrated phosphorylated chitosan into exfoliated montmorillonite, showing that this was an effective synergist to AlPi in TPU, achieving UL94-V0 (3.4 mm) and significant smoke reduction.
- Gustavo Schinazi, Case Western Reserve University, USA (P34), tested eight different bio-based and PIN FRs in ABS (tannic acid, phytic acid, fish gelatin, DNA, melamine poly(magnesium phosphate), MDH, ATH, melamine) showing optimal fire performance with tannic acid plus phytic acid or tannic acid plus fish gelatin due to synergy with the ABS matrix.
- Jens Reuter, Fraunhofer LBF, Darmstadt, Germany (P39), showed synergies between the PIN FRs ATH and zin phosphinate or aluminium hypophosphite in unsaturated polyester resins, achieving UL94-V0 (3 mm) with 37% ATH and 8% phosphorus PIN FR.
- Roberto Spogli, Probalin & Tefarm, Italy (P69), presented studies of biodegradable PIN FRs in elastomeric polymers, within the EU-project PolyCE (GA No 730308 www.polyce-project.eu) showing that a 5% loading of hydrotalcites and zirconium phosphates reduced heat release rate by 50% and smoke by 60%.