Polylactic acid flame-retardant composite preparation and investigation of flame-retardant characteristics

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a new type of biodegradable material with good mechanical properties, and is widely used in many fields. However, as PLA is highly flammable, it is necessary to conduct flame-retardant modification research on PLA. Phosphorus heterophilic flame retardants are low smoke, non-toxic and have high flame-retardant efficiency, and also have broad application prospects. In this study, a phosphazene flame retardant, 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphazene-10-yl-hydroxy-phenol (abbreviated as DOPO-PHBA), was synthesized. The PLA/ECE/DOPO-PHBA flame-retardant composites were prepared by adding DOPO-PHBA and epoxy chain extender (ECE) into PLA. Thermal, mechanical, and flame-retardant properties, as well as microscopic morphology of the PLA flame-retardant composites were characterized and analyzed, and the flame-retardant mechanism was discussed. Results show that when the flame-retardant DOPO-PHBA is added at 5 wt%, the PLA composites can reach the V-0 level of combustion, and the corresponding LOI value is 30.0% at this time, and the LOI value increases from 22.5% to 33.6% with the increase of the flame-retardant content. In addition, PLA composites still have good mechanical properties, and the cone heat, carbon residue and the thermal decomposition process shows that the flame-retardant causes a two-phase flame-retardant mechanism on PLA with the gas and condensed phases acting in synergy. High flame retardancy is mainly attributed to free radical quenching, gas dilution, and the thermal barrier caused by the carbon layer. This work provides a simple and scalable method for the preparation of high-performance flame-retardant PLA materials.