Fire retardancy of clay/carbon nanofiber hybrid sheet in fiber reinforced polymer composites

In this paper, two kinds of clay/carbon nanofiber hybrid sheets containing 0.05 wt% and 0.20 wt% of Cloisite Na⁺ clay, were fabricated through a high-pressure filtration system. These sheets were integrated onto the surface of laminated composites like traditional continuous fiber mats through vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. The fire performance of the laminated composites was evaluated with cone calorimeter tests under an external radiant heat flux of 50 kW/m². Their residues were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analyses. It was found that the clay/nanofiber hybrid sheets survived on the combustion surface of composites and significantly reduced the heat release rate by 60.5%. The protective clay layer reduces the heat release rates and the nanofiber network reinforces the clay layer against the air bubbling and melt flow of the products degraded from the polymer resin. The clay/carbon nanofiber hybrid sheet combines the barrier and insulator effects of the clays with the re-emitting heat effect of carbon nanofibers on the combustion surface of composites.