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Nature
Materials
4, 928–933 (2005)
Carbon
nanotubes networks reduce the flammability of
polymer nanocomposites
Synthetic
polymeric materials are rapidly replacing more traditional
inorganic materials, such as metals, and natural polymeric
materials, such as wood. As these synthetic materials are
flammable, they require modifications to decrease their
flammability through the addition of flame-retardant
compounds. Environmental regulation has restricted the use
of some halogenated flame-retardant additives, initiating a
search for alternative flame-retardant additives.
Nanoparticle fillers are highly attractive for this purpose,
because they can simultaneously improve both the physical
and flammability properties of the polymer nanocomposite. We
show that carbon nanotubes can surpass nanoclays as
effective flame-retardant additives if they form a jammed
network structure in the polymer matrix, such that the
material as a whole behaves rheologically like a gel. We
find this kind of network formation for a variety of highly
extended carbon-based nanoparticles: single- and multiwalled
nanotubes, as well as carbon nanofibres.
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