Preparation and characterization of attapulgite microcapsules coated with acrylic polymer

The attapulgite core-shell microcapsule type flame retardant was prepared by in situ polymerization. Attapulgite (ATP) was used as a core material with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid) [P(MMA-co-AA)] as shell materials. The attapulgite was modified by the silane coupling agent. The effects of different shell materials and modification methods on the structure and properties of attapulgite core-shell microcapsules were studied by scanning electron microscopy, particle size distribution, infrared analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed that the coating effect was best when the amount of silane coupling agent was 1% of the attapulgite mass. The particle size of the microcapsule prepared with PMMA as shell material was uniform and the coating efficiency was better. After the copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) in MMA shell materials, the cladding efficiency was improved. At the same time, the thermal decomposition temperature of the microcapsule shell material was greatly reduced, which is beneficial to the performance of attapulgite flame retardant.