Thermal degradation and fire behaviour of unsaturated polyesters filled with metallic oxides

Nano-alumina and submicron alumina trihydrate particles were incorporated into an unsaturated polyester resin at various loadings. The morphologies of composites showed that only nano-alumina was correctly dispersed. The thermal degradation behaviour of the composites was studied using thermogravimetric analysis and Py-GC/MS, while their fire behaviour was investigated using cone calorimeter and pyrolysis combustion flow microcalorimeter. Synergistic effects on thermal stability and heat release rate were observed for combinations between both submicron filler and nanofiller. The best result for fire behaviour was obtained for a global loading of 10wt% with an equal mass ratio for both kind of particles. Mass loss curves also showed increased char yield. The interest of combining particles with different sizes has been discussed as well as the role of water release, regarding activations energies of degradation processes. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.