Thermal stability and flame retardancy of an epoxy resin modified with phosphoric triamide and glycidyl POSS

Phosphoric triamide (PTA) and glycidyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) were simultaneously incorporated into the cured network of a bisphenol F epoxy resin and 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl methane (DDM) to improve the thermal stability and flame retardancy. PTA was synthesized by triethyl phosphate and DDM, and its chemical structure was confirmed by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results showed that the introduction of PTA and POSS slightly increased the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resin. The thermogravimetric analysis results indicated that compared with the pure, phosphoric, and silicic epoxy resins, the modified epoxy resin possessed the lowest weight loss rate and highest char residue. Its limiting oxygen index value was as high as 30.5, and the UL-94 grade reached V-1. A decomposition test was carried out to obtain sufficient char residue and investigate the condensed mechanism. The scanning electron microscopic images demonstrated that the char residue of the modified epoxy resin had a compact structure. The energy dispersive X-ray and FTIR analyses verified the synergistic effect of the phosphorus and silicon in the PTA and POSS, respectively, on the epoxy resin.