Flame resistance of epoxy matrix composites filled with different solvent-free graphene nanofluids

The graphene was decorated by carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and zinc hydroxystannate(ZHS), respectively. The hybrid nanoparticles were used as the core, the surfactant KH560 as the corona and polyether amine M2070 as the canopy. The solvent-free (GNS-MWCNTs)@M2070 and solvent-free (GNS-ZHS)@M2070 nanofluids were prepared, respectively. Then both of them with mass fraction is 2.0 wt% were added into the epoxy resin(EP) to prepare (GNS-MWCNTs)@M2070/EP and (GNS-ZHS)@M2070/EP composites. The flame retardant property of the composites was characterized by the cone calorimeter test. The results show that the value of FIGRA index of pure EP, (GNS-MWCNTs)@M2070/EP and (GNS-ZHS)@M2070/EP are 3.682, 3.118 and 4.391 kW(m²·s)^-1, respectively. Compared with (GNS-MWCNTs)@M2070/EP, (GNS-ZHS)@M2070/EP has a lower smoke productiom rate(SPR), total smoke production(TSR) and carbon monoxide production(COP), which confirms that the ZHS deposited on the graphene sheet layers solvent-free nanofluid can better improve the flame retardant property of the epoxy resin.