Fabrication of fullerene decorated by iron compound and its effect on the thermal stability and flammability for high-density polyethylene

Summary Fullerene decorated by iron compound (C 60 -Fe) is fabricated via solution reaction and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Upon incorporating C 60 -Fe into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix by melt blending, the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of HDPE are considerably increased, the oxidative induction time (OIT) is dramatically extend. When the concentration of C 60 -Fe reached 5 wt%, the onset degradation temperature in air increased from 352°C to 422°C, and the OIT dramatically delayed from 4.5 to 47.8 minutes. Moreover, from microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), C 60 -Fe can reduce the peak heat release rate ( PHRR ), heat release capacity ( HRC ), and total heat release ( THR ) values of the composites, all of which are very important parameters for evaluating the fire retardancy of a polymeric material.