Co-authors​ :

 Mingyuan SHEN (TAIWAN), Ke CING YU , Chin-Lung CHIANG (TAIWAN) 

This study developed a flame retardant with sugarcane bagasse and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP). First, sugarcane bagasse was dissolved in deionized (DI) water before phosphoric acid and ammonia water were dripped into the solution to induce a neutralization reaction, which formed ADP. Finally, a hydrothermal method was used to attach the ADP to pores in the sugarcane bagasse, forming bagasse-ADP. Bagasse-ADP was added to epoxy to prepare a composite material with lower flammability than pure epoxy. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, limiting oxygen index, UL-94 vertical and horizontal flame tests, thermal analysis–infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the thermal properties, flame retardant properties, toxicity, and charring of the composite material. The thermogravimetric analysis results demonstrated that the char yield of epoxy increased from 14.1 wt% to 32.3 wt% after adding bagasse-ADP, indicating improved thermal stability of the composite material. The limiting oxygen index increased from 21 to 30 %, and the UL-94 classification changed from “Fail” to “V-0” after bagasse-ADP was added, validating the flame retardancy of the epoxy/bagasse-ADP composite material. The thermal analysis–infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that the flame retardant inhibited combustion in both the gas phase and the condensed phase and that the material had greater oxidation resistance as more flame retardant was added.