The influence of carbon-based fillers on the flammability of polypropylene-based co-extruded wood-plastic composite

摘要

Comparative analysis of the effect of carbon-based fillers with different particle sizes and morphologies on the flammable properties of a co-extruded wood-plastic composite is performed. Five carbon-based fillers, namely carbon black, carbon nanotubes, graphite, expandable graphite, and carbon fibers were loaded into the shell layer of the composite. The flammability was characterized by using the cone calorimeter technique. The nanosized fillers, carbon black and carbon nanotubes, had a larger impact on the peak of the heat release rate, decreasing it by 16% and 17%, respectively. The samples with graphite, expandable graphite, and carbon fibers, decreased the peak of the heat release rate by 10%, 6%, and 11%, respectively. The total heat release decreased slightly for all the samples, except for the carbon fibers-wood-plastic composite. The effective heat of combustion decreased also slightly, and carbon monoxide production increased for all the studied composites. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.