Thermal aging properties of flame retardant silicone rubber based on melamine cyanurate

Abstract In this work, an efficient preparation method for flame retardant silicon rubbers (FRSR) was established with using melamine cyanurate (MCA) as flame retardants. In order to analyze the thermal aging mechanisms and flame retardancy of FRSR, cone calorimetric test (CCT), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X‐ray spectra were performed. Results indicated that the aging time significantly decreases the tensile strength and the elongation at break. SEM images revealed that the porous surface of the aged FRSR provide diffusion path for heat and oxygen, which resulted in a continuously increase in Shore A hardness due to the increase of cross‐linking density during the aging process. FTIR spectra further proved that the MCA is well‐embedded into samples and cross‐linking reaction between free radicals of silicone rubber (SR) and oxygen was occurring during the aging process. Besides, CCT results showed that all FRSR samples before and after thermal aging exhibit excellent flame retardancy with compact and stable char residue layers, effectively hindering the heat transfer and oxygen diffusion. It was expected that our findings could provide important information to fabricate SR with flame retardancy and outstanding long‐term thermal‐aging resistance.