Synergistic effects of black phosphorus/boron nitride nanosheets on enhancing the flame-retardant properties of waterborne polyurethane and its flame-retardant mechanism

Abstract

We applied black phosphorene (BP) and hexagonal boron nitride (BN) nanosheets as flame retardants to waterborne polyurethane to fabricate a novel black phosphorus/boron nitride/waterborne polyurethane composite material. The results demonstrated that the limiting oxygen index of the flame-retarded waterborne polyurethane composite increased from 21.7% for pure waterborne polyurethane to 33.8%. The peak heat release rate and total heat release of the waterborne polyurethane composite were significantly reduced by 50.94% and 23.92%, respectively, at a flame-retardant content of only 0.4 wt%. The superior refractory performances of waterborne polyurethane composite are attributed to the synergistic effect of BP and BN in the gas phase and condensed phase. This study shows that black phosphorus-based nanocomposites have great potential to improve the fire resistance of polymers.