TY - JOUR A1 - Dittrich, Bettina A1 - Wartig, K.-A. A1 - Hofmann, D. A1 - Mülhaupt, R. A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Flame retardancy through carbon nanomaterials: carbon black, multiwall nanotubes, expanded graphite, multi layer graphene and graphene in polypropylene JF - Polymer degradation and stability N2 - Herein we investigate the influence of carbon additives with different particle sizes and shapes on the flame retardancy and mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene. Thermally reduced graphite oxide (TRGO) and multi-layer graphene (MLG250), consisting of few graphene layers, are compared with spherical, tubular and platelet-like carbon fillers such as carbon black (CB), multiwall nanotubes (MWNT) and expanded graphite (EG). The different morphologies control the dispersion of the carbon particles in PP and play a key role in structure–property relationships. Uniformly dispersed CB, MLG250 and TRGO shift the onset temperature of PP decomposition to temperatures around 30 °C higher, induce a flow limit in the composites' melt viscosity and change drastically their fire behaviour. The prevented dripping and significantly increased heat absorption result in decreased time to ignition and hardly any change in the reaction to a small flame. Under forced-flaming conditions reductions in the peak heat release rate of up to 74% are achieved due to the formation of a protective layer of residue during combustion. The described effects of carbon nanomaterials on the properties of PP composites are most pronounced for well-exfoliated graphenes, making them preferable to less exfoliated, micron-sized expanded graphite or conventional spherical and tubular carbon nanoparticles. KW - Polypropylene KW - Flame retardancy KW - Nanocomposites KW - Graphene KW - Carbon nanomaterials KW - Thermally reduced graphite oxide PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2013.04.009 SN - 0141-3910 SN - 1873-2321 VL - 98 IS - 8 SP - 1495 EP - 1505 PB - Applied Science Publ. CY - London AN - OPUS4-28638 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -