Flame retardancy and thermal properties of novel UV-curing epoxy acrylate coatings modified by phosphorus-containing hyperbranched macromonomer

A novel phosphorus-containing hyperbranched macromonomer (PHM), successfully synthesized via Michael addition polymerization of tri(acryloyloxyethyl) phosphate (TAEP) with n-butylamine (BA), was blended with epoxy acrylate resin (EA) to prepare UV curable flame retardant coatings. The study of thermal degradation of these coatings revealed that PHM can catalyze the degradation of EA, contributing to the formation of thermally stable char layer. The residues of EA3 (which contains 45 wt.% PHM) at various temperatures were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the results displayed that the formation of phosphorus-carbon structure can well protect the carbonaceous char from thermal-oxidative degradation at 800 °C. Besides, the investigation of the flammability illustrated that the addition of PHM increased the limiting oxygen index (LOI) value and reduced the peak heat rate release (HRR) and total heat release (THR).