Preparation and characterization of Ammonium Polyphosphate/Diatomite Composite flame-retardant fillers

Abstract

Ammonium Polyphosphate (APP) has been known as an effective flame retardant, but its dispersion in some materials is very poor so it is necessary to incoporate APP with some suitable additives. This study refers to the preparation of APP/Diatomite (DIA) composite flame-retardant fillers. The materials were prepared by two methods: by adding diatomie powder to the mixture during the preparation of APP or by adding diatomite powder to the suspension of very fine solid APP particals in water. The samples were put into separate porcelain bowls and dried at 210°C for 3 hours. The structure and morphology of the material was identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis was performed to evaluate the thermal degradation behaviors of the material.