TY - JOUR A1 - Battig, Alexander A1 - Markwart, J. C. A1 - Wurm, F. R. A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Sulfur's role in the flame retardancy of thio-ether–linked hyperbranched polyphosphoesters in epoxy resins JF - European Polymer Journal N2 - Hyperbranched polyphosphoesters are promising multifunctional flame retardants for epoxy resins. These polymers were prepared via thiol-ene polyaddition reactions. While key chemical transformations and modes of actions were elucidated, the role of sulfur in the chemical composition remains an open question. In this study, the FR-performance of a series of phosphorus-based flame retardant additives with and without sulfur (thioethers or sulfones) in their structure are compared. The successful synthesis of thio-ether or sulfone-containing variants is described and verified by 1H and 31P NMR, also FTIR and MALDI-TOF. A decomposition process is proposed from pyrolytic evolved gas analysis (TG-FTIR, Py-GC/MS), and flame retardancy effect on epoxy resins is investigated under pyrolytic conditions and via fire testing in the cone calorimeter. The presence of sulfur increased thermal stability of the flame retardants and introduced added condensed phase action. Likely, Sulfur radical generation plays a key role in the flame-retardant mode of action, and sulfones released incombustible SO2. The results highlight the multifunctionality of the hyperbranched polymer, which displays better fire performance than its low molar mass thio-ether analogue due to the presence of vinyl groups and higher stability than its monomer due to the presence of thio-ether groups. KW - Phosphoester KW - Hyperbranched KW - Sulfur KW - Thio-ether KW - Flame retardant KW - Epoxy resin PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.109390 SN - 0014-3057 VL - 122 SP - 109390 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-50238 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Battig, Alexander A1 - Markwart, J. C. A1 - Wurm, F. R. A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Matrix matters: Hyperbranched flame retardants in aliphatic and aromatic epoxy resins JF - Polymer Degradation and Stability N2 - We synthesized a library of phosphorus-based flame retardants (phosphates and phosphoramides of low and high molar mass) and investigated their behavior in two epoxy resins (one aliphatic and one aromatic). The pyrolytic and burning behavior of the two resins (via TGA, TG-FTIR, Hot stage FTIR, Py-GC/MS, PCFC, DSC, LOI, UL-94, Cone calorimeter) are analyzed and compared to the results of flame retardant (FR)-containing composites. A decomposition pathway incorporating the identified modes of action and known chemical mechanisms is proposed. The overlap of decomposition temperature (Tdec) ranges of matrix and FR determines the efficacy of the system. Low molar mass FRs strongly impact material properties like Tg but are very reactive, and high molar mass variants are more thermally stable. Varying PeO and PeN content of the FR affects decomposition, but the chemical structure of the matrix also guides FR behavior. Thus, phosphates afford lower fire load and heat release in aliphatic epoxy resins, and phosphoramides can act as additives in an aromatic matrix or a reactive FRs in aliphatic ones. The chemical structure and the structure-property relationship of both FR and matrix are central to FR performance and must be viewed not as two separate but as one codependent system. KW - Flame retardant KW - Phosphate KW - Phosphoramide KW - Epoxy resin KW - Hyperbranched polymer PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2019.108986 SN - 0141-3910 VL - 170 SP - 108986 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-49456 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -