Alexander B. Morgan And Charles A. Wilkie (eds), Flame Retardant Polymer Nanocomposites

摘要

Many new materials begin life as a solution looking for a problem. In the early days of conducting polymers, the focus shifted from replacing copper to battery electrodes, to photovoltaics, to semiconductors and recently to replacing indium-tin oxide. The main topic of this volume, polymer-clay nanocomposites had been studied in the 1980s for their high stiffness and for their reduced permeability before the emphasis shifted to flame retardance. However, flame retardance is not a simple property like stiffness and permeability but is a measure of the interacting kinetics of thermal decomposition, combustion, heat and mass flow. Of the 12 chapters, the first reviews polymer flamma-bility in general and the last provides an excellent summary and future outlook. One chapter covers mechanical and permeability properties of polymer clay nanocomposites, to also set the scene. These nanocomposites resist fire, firstly because they form a char and secondly because they resist dripping. This very complex process is treated by three similar chapters. The overlap is not unreasonable but none of us really understand the process so several different viewpoints are helpful.