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Enhanced Thermo‐Mechanical Stiffness, Thermal Stability, and Fire Retardant Performance of Surface‐Modified 2D MoS 2 Nanosheet‐Reinforced Polyurethane Composites
Author(s) -
Malkappa Kuruma,
Ray Suprakas Sinha,
Kumar Neeraj
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201800562
Subject(s) - materials science , nanosheet , composite material , thermal stability , composite number , polyurethane , thermogravimetric analysis , fire retardant , in situ polymerization , melamine , polymerization , dynamic mechanical analysis , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polymer , chemical engineering , engineering , nanotechnology
Abstract This article reports new‐generation 2D‐MoS 2 nanosheet‐containing polyurethane (PU) composite materials with improved thermo‐mechanical stiffness, thermal stability, and fire retardation properties. The surface of 2D‐MoS 2 nanosheets is modified with melamine (M‐MoS 2 ), and then PU composites with varying M‐MoS 2 loadings are synthesized using an in situ polymerization method. During polymerization, 3‐amino‐propyl‐trimethoxy silane is introduced to create silicate functionality on the PU chains, which further improves the compatibility between PU and M‐MoS 2 . Microscopy studies confirm the distribution of highly intercalated and agglomerated M‐MoS 2 nanosheets in the PU matrix. The PU composite containing 5 wt% M‐MoS 2 shows a 65% higher storage modulus (at 30 °C) than that of pure PU. The thermal stability of pure PU is significantly improved (62 °C) after composite formation. Thermogravimetric analysis in combination with FTIR spectroscopy shows that the PU/M‐MoS 2 composites release less toxic gases during thermal degradation compared to pure PU. Moreover, the composite containing 5 wt% M‐MoS 2 shows improved fire retardation properties, with 45% and 67.5% decrease in the peak heat and total heat release rates, respectively, as compared with those of pure PU. In summary, 2D‐MoS 2 is shown to have potential as an advanced nano‐filler to obtain stiffer PU composite with improved fire retardant property for structural application.