Production of flame retardant polyester composites and fibers

---

Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Kimya Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2013

Öğrenci: MİTHAT AKAN

Danışman: GÖKNUR BAYRAM

Özet:

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fiber is one of the leading synthetic fibers in textile industry. However, its flame retardant properties are poor to be used in certain applications, therefore flame retardant additives are generally used in order to improve flame retardant properties of PET. The main objective of this study is to find suitable flame retardant additives for PET that can synergize with each other and that can improve the flame retardant properties without compromising the mechanical properties of PET. PET fibers were prepared by using a twin screw micro-compounder at 260 ºC and 100 rpm for 3 minutes. Main flame retardant additive of the study is zinc phosphinate. Nano-zinc borate and huntite-hydromagnesite were used as synergists to increase the flame retardant and mechanical properties of PET. 10% zinc phosphinate and 2% and 4% synergists were mixed with PET and tested for mechanical and flame retardant properties. Test results show that zinc phosphinate-zinc borate system, while providing sufficient flame retardant properties, led to poor tensile strength. On the other hand, PET with zinc phosphinate and huntite-hydromagnesite has both sufficient flame retardant properties and better mechanical properties than PET with zinc phosphinate and zinc borate. As a result, zinc phoshinate-huntite-hydromagnesite system can be suggested to improve the flame retardant properties of PET.