Relationships between enhanced thermal stability of polymer-clay nanocomposites and flame retardancy

2 Relationships between enhanced thermal stability of polymer-clay nanocomposites and flame retardancy 

Two features must be included in this discussion to provide a meaningful discussion of the relationship between enhanced thermal stability of polymer-clay nanocomposites and flame retardancy. A cogent definition of flame retardants needs to be identified. Two definitions are discussed by Bartholmai and Schartel [19]  

A fire retardant is anything that delays the start or decreases the propagation 

A fire retardant is a commercial product which improves a polymer material so that it can pass fire regulations and fire tests without too much influence of other properties. 

These definitions will be utilized to judge the flame-retardant effectiveness of clay as a dispersed phase in poljnners. 

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An excellent review of the work on the flame retardancy of polymer nanocomposites was published in 2007 [3]. This chapter will focus on the evaluation of the proposed mechanisms for enhanced thermal stability of polymer-clay nanocomposites, the proposed relationships between enhanced thermal stability of polymer-clay nanocomposites and flame retardancy, and the synergies that develop between traditional flame retardants for polymers and polymer-clay nanocomposites. 

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