Preparation and Combustion Properties of Flame Retardant Styrene-Butyl Acrylate Copolymer/Graphite Oxide Nanocomposites Rui Zhang, 1 Yuan Hu,* 1 Jiayan Xu, 1 Weicheng Fan, 1 Zuyao Chen, 2 Qinan Wang 1 1 State Key Lab of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P.R. China Fax: þ86 551 3601664; E-mail: yuanhu@ustc.edu.cn 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P.R. China Received: September 3, 2003; Revised: December 21, 2003; Accepted: December 22, 2003; DOI: 10.1002/mame.200300264 Keywords: flame retardance; graphite oxide; nanocomposites; styrene-butyl acrylate (St-BA) copolymer Introduction Polymers have been extensively used in various fields. The flame retarding performance of polymer materials has been known to be a key factor for a long time. The use of polymer flame retardants has an important role in saving lives and property. Polymer/layered inorganic nanocomposites with improved flammability properties provide an alternative to conventional flame retardants. [1–3] However, during the past few years, much attention has been paid to the polymer/ layered silicate nanocomposite systems, while the graphite oxide (GO) systems have rarely been studied, especially their flame retardant properties. [4,5] GO-like layered sili- cates, a typical two-dimensional solid in bulk form, is com- posed of layered nanosheets possessing hydroxyl, carbonyl and ether groups. [6] These functional groups make it easy for GO to absorb polar molecules and polar polymers by different means to form polymer/GO nanocomposites, which have some physical and chemical properties, inclu- ding fire retardancy, that are dramatically different from their bulk counterparts. [7–11] Styrene-butyl acrylate copolymer (St-BA) has been widely used as a new kind of environmentally conscious latex paint, coating and adhesive due to its unique pro- perties, such as being nontoxic, nonpollutant and water soluble. [12,13] To meet the ever increasing applications in industry, its flame retardant properties need to be improved. Although there are many reports on the flame retardant property of layered silicates used as an additive in the polymer matrix, the flame retardant behavior of GO has not been studied until now. The aim of this study is to pre- pare St-BA/GO/MPP hybrids by a convenient ball-milling method and investigate their combustion behavior and the flame retardant synergistic effect between GO and the Summary: Styrene-butyl acrylate copolymer (St-BA)/graphite oxide (GO) nanocomposites and St-BA/GO/MPP [melamine poly(metaphosphate)] composites were prepared via an inter- calation process by the ball-milling method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron micro- scopy (TEM), and field emission scanning electron microana- lyzer (SEM). Cone calorimetry experiments were carried out to evaluate their flammability. The cone calorimetry data suggested that the addition of GO can decrease the heat re- lease rate of St-BA copolymers significantly. Furthermore, there was also a synergistic effect on the fire retardant pro- perty by the combination of GO and MPP. However, no pro- minent effect of the GO content on the reduction of peak heat release rate (HRR) in nanocomposites could be found. SEM image of the fractured surface of St-BA/GO/MPP hybrid. Macromol. Mater. Eng. 2004, 289, 355–359 DOI: 10.1002/mame.200300264 ß 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Full Paper 355