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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Polymeric and Composite Materials
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2024.1443089
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Advances in Flame Retardant Polymeric Materials and Composites View all articles

Optimizing the Synergistic Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fillers on Fire-Retardant and Mechanical Properties of Vinyl Ester/Flax Biocomposites

Provisionally accepted
Muhammad Iftikhar Faraz Muhammad Iftikhar Faraz *
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Vinyl ester/flax (VE/flax) bio-composites were made after incorporating hybrid concentrations (0, 3, and 6 % by weight (wt)) of halloysite nanotubes (HNT), magnesium hydroxide (MHO) and chitosan infused ammonium polyphosphate (CAP) particles. The purpose of incorporation of these particles was to improve the fire-retardant (FR) properties of the VE/flax composite; however, its effect on mechanical properties was also evaluated. To reduce the number of experiments (from 27 to 9), Taguchi design of experiment was employed during composite fabrication phase. Initially, the burning time and burning rate of all the composites were calculated using a horizontal burning test while tensile properties were determined using a tensile test. To predict an optimum composition, a signal to noise (S/N) ratio analysis of the burning time and tensile strength was conducted as "larger is better" criteria. The combination of 6% MGO and 3% CAP was predicted to be an optimum hybrid filler for enhanced fire retardancy, while VE/flax composite with no filler proved to have the highest tensile strength. HNT was found to be the least effective filler for both tensile and fire-retardant properties. The predicted composition was then fabricated and validated through experimental characterizations. The fireretardant properties of the optimized composite were additionally assessed using a limiting oxygen index (LOI) test and thermal stability was evaluated using a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The burning time of the optimized composite was found to be delayed by 46.5% of that of VE/flax composite, while its thermal degradation was 11.23% lower than VE/flax composite.

    Keywords: fire retardancy, Mechanical Properties, Synergy, Design of Experiments, biocomposites

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 01 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Faraz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Muhammad Iftikhar Faraz, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.