Effects of two kinds of THEIC‐based charring agents on flame‐retardant properties of polylactide

Two charring agents tris (2‐hydrooxyethyl) isocyanurate terephthalic acid ester, (dimer/trimer mixture TT23, and tetramer TT4) were synthesized by using tris (2‐hydrooxyethyl) isocyanurate (THEIC) and terephthalic acid (TPA) as raw materials. These two charring agents were combined with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) to form intumescent flame retardants (IFR) for polylactide (PLA). The thermal stability of IFRs were tested by TGA, it is found that APP/TT4 mixture has a higher thermal stability and a better char forming ability than that of APP/TT23 mixture. The combustion properties and thermal stability of PLA/APP/TT23 and PLA/APP/TT4 composites were evaluated by UL‐94 burning tests, limiting oxygen index (LOI), cone calorimeter tests and TGA, the chemical structure of char residues were analyzed by FTIR and XPS. It can be concluded that PLA with 30 wt % of APP/TT4 (weight ratio 5 : 1) achieved the greatest flame retardancy. Moreover, the continuous and expansionary char layer observed from SEM images proved better char forming ability of TT4 than that of TT23. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42086.