Boosting the flame retardancy of vinyl ester resins via a DE@DMMP hybrid: Reducing migration and improving fire performance
Xie J. Marzhan A. Nurgul Z. Hou Y. Amirbek B. Hu W. Wang X. Hu Y. Chu F.
April 2026Elsevier Ltd
Polymer Degradation and Stability
2026#246
Vinyl ester resins (VER) require flame-retardant modification for safe application, but conventional additives face limitations. To overcome the high volatility and migration tendency of the effective liquid phosphorus flame retardant dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), this study develops a novel composite by confining DMMP within the micro-nano porous structure of diatomite (DE) to form a DE@DMMP hybrid. This hybrid was incorporated into VER to create flame-retardant composites. Successful DMMP adsorption onto DE was confirmed through FTIR and SEM analysis. Compared with the physically mixed DE/DMMP system, the VER composite containing 25 wt% DE@DMMP exhibited better thermal stability and more char residues. It achieved superior flame retardancy, with a limiting oxygen index of 26% and a UL-94 V-0 rating. Cone calorimetry tests revealed a remarkable 50.54% reduction in the peak heat release rate and a 58.30% decrease in total heat release versus pure VER, alongside suppressed total smoke production. The enhanced performance is attributed to a synergistic phosphorus-silicon effect. The immobilized DMMP provides efficient gas-phase radical quenching, whereas the silica framework of DE promotes the formation of a compact, thermally stable char layer enriched with Si-O-P crosslinking structures, as evidenced by XPS analysis. This work presents an effective strategy to mitigate additive migration and develop high-performance, halogen-free, flame-retardant VER with balanced fire safety.
DE@DMMP hybrid , Diatomite , Flame retardancy , Phosphorus-silicon synergy , Vinyl ester resins
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State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Anhui, Hefei, 230026, China
Department of Physics, K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional State University, Aliya Moldagulova Avenue 34, Aktobe, 030000, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Polymer Composites, K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional State University, Aliya Moldagulova Avenue 34, Aktobe, 030000, Kazakhstan
State Key Laboratory of Fire Science
Department of Physics
Laboratory of Polymer Composites
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Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026