Effect of Bio-Based Cobalt Alginate on the Fire Safety and Mechanical Properties for Epoxy Resin

There is a growing demand to develop epoxy resins (EP) with smoke suppression as well as satisfactory flame retardancy. Herein, bio-based cobalt alginate is successfully fabricated and incorporated into EP to prepare EP/Cobalt Alginate composites with better fire safety performance. The addition of cobalt alginate reduces the thermal-decomposition rate, temperature at maximum weight-loss rate of EP, whereas obviously improves the thermal stabilities at a higher temperature range. Furthermore, the addition of cobalt alginate substantially reduces the fire hazard of EP, resulting in 56.2% reduction in peak heat release rate, as well as 17.8% and 56.3% reduction in total smoke production and peak smoke production rate, respectively, compared with EP matrix. Moreover, the presence of cobalt alginate increases smoke-suppressant properties, according to the smoke density test. Additionally, the incorporation of cobalt alginate has no obviously destructive effect on the mechanical properties of EP, while EP/Cobalt Alginate-3 exhibits a 27.0% improvement in impact strength. In prospective, this study may provide a significant method for producing eco-friendly flame retardant EP.