Polydopamine induced natural fiber surface functionalization: a way towards flame retardancy of flax/poly(lactic acid) biocomposites

Lu Zhang, Zhi Li, Ye Tang Pan, Adriana Pérez Yáñez, Shuang Hu, Xiu Qin Zhang, Rui Wang, De Yi Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

113 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aiming to improve flame retardancy of natural fiber reinforced poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composites, a bio-inspired fiber surface modification approach was investigated in this study. Raw flax fiber was firstly coated with a thin adhesive polydopamine (PDA) film in an aqueous solution of dopamine, followed by in situ growth of iron phosphonate on the fiber surface. The modified flax fiber was added into PLA to prepare flame retardant biocomposite. Compared with raw flax reinforced PLA with a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 19.1% and no rating in vertical burning test (UL-94), the modified PLA composite possessed a high LOI of 26.1% and V-2 rating. Meanwhile, the fiber surface modification resulted in suppression on both peak heat release rate (decreased by 16%) and total smoke production (decreased by 21%) in cone calorimeter test (CCT). Moreover, tensile modulus of the flame retardant composite was remarkably enhanced, accompanied with a slightly decreased tensile strength compared to raw PLA. The polydopamine assisted surface modification proved to be a feasible approach to improve the flame retardancy of fiber reinforced composites.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)56-63
Number of pages8
JournalComposites Part B: Engineering
Volume154
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Flame retardancy
  • Mechanical properties
  • Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)
  • Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs)

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