Effect of Boric Acid on Volatile Products of Thermooxidative Degradation of Epoxy Polymers

Abstract

The polymeric materials are characterized by high flammability. The use of flame retardants in order to reduce the flammability of polymers can lead to the formation of toxic gaseous products under fire conditions. In this work we studied the effect of boric acid on the volatile products of thermooxidative degradation of epoxy polymers. The comparative investigations were carried out on the samples of the unfilled epoxy resin and epoxy resin filled with a boric acid at percentage 10 wt. %. The analysis of the volatile decomposition products and thermal stability of the samples under heating in an oxidizing medium was performed using a thermal mass-spectrometric analysis. It is found that the incorporation of boric acid into the polymer matrix increases the thermal stability of epoxy composites and leads to a reduction in the 2-2.7 times of toxic gaseous products.