Table 1 Material properties of AF, PP, ESP and HNT.
Related Figures (13)
Fig. 1. Schematic of the manufacturing process for preparing the AF/PP/ESP/HNT composites in this research proposed by Kamarian et al. (2023). Taguchi design of experiments for the composite samples at three levels of 0% 3% and 6% HNTs, and three levels of 0%, 3% and 6% ESP. 2.2.2. Three-point bending test Fig. 2. a) FESEM images of the fracture surface for the HOEO sample, and b) the corresponding elemental mapping. Fig. 3. a) FESEM image, and b) elemental mapping for the HOE6 sample. Fig. 4. a) FESEM image, and b) elemental mapping for the H6EO sample. Fig. 5. a) FESEM image, and b) elemental mapping for the hybrid-additive H6E6 sample. The obtained flexural properties of fabricated AF/PP composites containing various amounts of ESP and/or HNT. Fig. 6. The stress-strain curves obtained based on the results of three-point bending tests on different samples upon loading with a) ESP, b) HNTs, and c) a hybrid of ESP and HNT, as compared to HOEO composite samples. The obtained Tm and heat flow of AF/PP composites modified with either ESP, HNT, or a hybrid of the two additives. samples. It was observed that the incorporation of ESP improved the flame retardancy of the AF/PP composites and reduced the values of THR, MARHE, ML, and TOC. This effect was more prominent at higher additive loadings. This can be attributed to the fact that ESP, being a biowaste, consists primarily of CaCO3 (94%) and organic materials (5%), both of which can potentially contribute to fire retardancy. Focusing the effect of HNTs, the results presented in Table 5 for HOEO, H3E0, and H6EO samples revealed that, similar to ESP, HNTs had a positive effect on reducing the flammability of AF/PP composites. This CCT results for different composite samples. Table 5 was evidenced by a significant reduction in the flammability of the composites with increasing HNT content up to 6 wt%. The reason behind this is that HNTs can generate a stable cohesive char that helps to trap flammable volatiles and form solid barriers on the composite sur- faces. This, in turn, reduces the decomposition rate while increasing the decomposition temperature of the composites. However, it should be noted that achieving a homogeneous dispersion of additives in the composites is crucial for the maintenance of the char layer. Therefore, higher loadings of HNTs may lead to a deterioration in the fire resistance of the composites due to non-uniform distribution and agglomeration of the nano-fillers, as reported by Kamarian et al. (2022). In the next step, Fig. 7. DSC thermograms of HOEO and filled AF/PP composites with (a) ESP, (b) HNTs, and (c) hybrid ESP and HNT at different loadings. Fig. 8. CCT results for HOEO, HOE6, H3E6 and H3E6 samples. experiment. The results presented in Fig. 8b indicated that the effects of HNT and ESP became more pronounced as the burning time increased. Furthermore, the results suggested that the THR of the H3E6 sample was approximately 14.0% lower than the corresponding value for HOEO at the end of the burning period. Another important parameter is MARHE, which is defined as the peak value of cumulative heat emission per unit time, which is useful for ranking materials based on their ability to spread fire to other objects. The experimental results presented in Fig. 8c demonstrated that the lowest MARHE value (corresponding to the peak of the ARHE curve) was observed for the H3E6 composite. This indicates that adding HNT and ESP to the composite sample at 3 and 6 wt%, respectively, can lead to a significant reduction in the fire spread hazard. The CCT results showed that the MARHE value for the HOEO sample was 528.7 kW/m”, while this parameter was measured at 441.4 kW/m? for the H3E6 sample. The next parameter to be discussed is the total oxygen consumed (TOC). As per the results presented in Fig. 8d, the optimal combination of HNT and ESP (H3E6) could decrease the TOC during the the study investigated the synergistic effects of HNT and ESP on the performance of AF/PP composites. The results presented in Table 5 indicate that the composite showed the best fire retardancy performance among all nine samples when HNT and ESP were added at 3 and 6 wt% loadings, respectively (i.e., H3E6). This suggests that adding excessive amounts of HNT or ESP beyond certain optimal levels may not neces- sarily lead to better fire performance of the composite. This can be attributed to the potential aggregation of HNTs at higher additive con- tents (i.e., 12 wt%) in the AF/PP composite. Further comparisons were made between four samples, namely HOEO, HOE6, H3E0, and H3E6, to demonstrate the synergistic effects of ESP and HNT at 6 and 3 wt%, respectively. As shown in Fig. 8a, the HRR curve of H3E6 was generally lower than that of the other samples. The figure also suggested that the most significant difference among the samples was observed in the range of 60 <t <175s, indicating that HNT and ESP can effectively suppress the peak of the HRR curve. Another key parameter is THR, which is defined as the integral of the HRR curves over the duration of the
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