The Effect of Intumescent Flame Retardant Contained Microencapsulated Red Phosphorus on the Flame Retardance and Thermal Degradation Behaviour of Epoxy Resin

The effect of intumescent flame retardant (IFR) contained microencapsulated red phosphorus on the flame retardance of E-44 epoxy resin (EP) was studied. The test results indicated that good flame retardancy can be realized when epoxy resin treated with 30% IFR. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the charring amount at high temperature of EP can increase substantially when IFR was incorporated. In order to further explain this phenomenon, Dolye integration method of thermal degradation dynamics was employed to study the thermal degradation process of EP treated with IFR based on the microencapsulated red phosphrous according to the thermal gravimetry analysis results.The activation energy and reactor order of different thermal degradation stages were obtained. The results of thermal degradation dynamics implied the intumescent flame retardants can improve the flame retardance of the epoxy resin through decrease the degradation speed and increase the activation energy of the second thermal degradation stage.