FLAME RETARDANT KENAF/PLA BIOCOMPOSITES: EFFECT OF AMMONIUM POLYPHOSPHATE

摘要

Flame retardancy of plastics and composites is critically important in related industries. Polymers, which are hydrocarbon-based organic materials, are subject to flame and toxic gases upon firing and, in general, have poor flame resistance. Accordingly, flame-resistant polymers are needed in the applications subject to flame. In particular, flameretardancy is critically important in fiber-reinforced plastics for safety regulation requirement [1-3]. Industries and academia, which have been dealing with fiber-reinforced polymer composites, have been seeking for environmentally-benign composite materials with flame retardancy [3,4]. Natural fiberreinforced biocomposites are less expensive, biodegradable, and also contributing to the reduction of carbon dioxide during the cultivation [5]. In addition, they are light-weight due to low density of natural fibers, good mechanical properties and abrasion resistance [4]. For many years, therefore, natural fiber-reinforced biocomposites have been utilized to replace glass fiber-reinforced composites due to their advantages with natural fibers [6-8].