Bio‐based nickel alginate toward improving fire safety and mechanical properties of epoxy resin

Preparing higher fire safety performance epoxy resin (EP) with bio-based flame-retardants is important for sustainable development. Herein, the effects of nickel alginate on thermal stability, fire safety and mechanical properties for EP had been investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis results indicated that nickel alginate endowed a significant improvement on thermal stability at the higher temperature range. EP/Nickel Alginate-3 displayed the maximum decrease in peak heat release rate (60% reduction), smoke production rate (44% reduction) and total smoke production (16% reduction). The production of smoke and toxic volatiles of EP/Nickel Alginate composites was significantly reduced. Moreover, the addition of nickel alginate reduced slightly tensile properties, while EP/Nickel Alginate composites exhibited an obvious enhancement in impact strength. Furthermore, the possible flame-retardant and smoke suppression mechanisms were put forward. This work opens a facile avenue for producing flame-retardant EP with better flame retardancy and smoke suppression properties, and contributes to expand practical applications for EP.