Synergistic Effect of Ce2O3 in Ammonium Polyphosphate-Pentaeruthritol-Melamine Intumescent Flame Retardant System

The synergistic effect of Ce2O3 in ammonium polyphosphatepentaeruthritolmelamine(APP-PER-MA) intumescent flame retardant(IFR) system with ammonium polyphosphate(APP) for acid source, pentaeruthritol(PER) for carbon source and melamine(MA) for gas source was investigated by thermogravimetry analysis(TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). It shows that Ce2O3 increases the degradation and accelerates the production of inorganic acid during 300~400 ℃. Ce2O3 changes the degradation time of IFR, however, it does not change the process of the degradation. Apparent activation energy analysis shows that Ce2O3 increases the apparent activation energy of IFR in the first decompose stage from 65.73 kJ/mol to 73.47 kJ/mol, and reduces it in the second, third and fourth stages from 167.46, 135.13 and 141.34 kJ/mol to 85.25, 96.08 and 58.18 kJ/mol, respectively. TGA shows that there is a great effect to the residue of IFR in every decompose stage when Ce2O3 is added.