Effects of additives and structure of surfactants on fire
retardancy of polymer nanocomposites  Grace Chigwada, Marquette
University   Nanocomposites are know to enhance flame retardancy
(FR) and result in reduced PHRR compared to the virgin polymer,
which is good, but on the other hand the total heat produced is
the same as that of the virgin polymer, which means that
eventually everything burns. Phosphorous-containing compounds
are also used as additives and they reduce flammability.
However, like any other additives large amounts have to be used.
The advantage of using phosphorous-containing compounds is that
they are not hazardous to the environment. So with these facts
in mind the objective of this study is to develop a small-scale
system that can be used for the preliminary analysis of
nanocomposites containing phosphate additives and then study the
synergism between nanocomposites and phosphorous-containing fire
retardants (FRs) for large samples. This goal was achieved by
first developing a high throu