Effect of boron phosphate on the mechanical, thermal and fire retardant properties of polypropylene and polyamide-6 fibers

The effect of boron phosphate (BPO4) nanoparticles on the mechanical, thermal, and flame retardant properties of polypropylene (PP) and polyamide 6 (PA-6) fibers are investigated by tensile testing, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and micro combustion calorimeter (MCC). The addition of BPO4 reduces the mechanical properties of the both PP and PA-6 fibers. According to the TGA results, the addition of BPO4 does not change the thermal behavior of PP fiber and slightly reduces the thermal stability of PA-6 fiber by about 30 °C. According to MCC results, the addition of BPO4 does not change the effective total heat evolution and heat release rate (HRR) peak for PP fibers. Although the inclusion of BPO4 does not change the total heat evolution of PA-6 fiber, it reduces the HRR peaks due to increase in barrier effect of char.