Preparation, combustion and thermal behaviors of UV-cured coatings containing organically modified α-ZrP

The bisphenol A epoxy acrylate resin containing a small amount of organically modified alpha-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) was cured within seconds upon UV irradiation at ambient temperature. The UV–curing behavior was investigated by fourier transformedinfrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The microstructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The transparency and the combustion were examined by the UV–vis transmission spectra and Microscale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC), respectively. The ultraviolet–visible spectra of the cured films showed no obvious absorbance over a range of 400–800 nm, which revealed that the cured films were transparent. The results of MCC revealed that heat release rate (HRR) of the films decreased with the contents of organic α-ZrP (OZrP). Thermal behavior of the cured films was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which indicated that with increasing the contents of OZrP, the char yields of UV-cured films were enhanced. Viscoelastic property of photocured nanocomposites was evaluated by dynamic-mechanical analysis. The effects of OZrP on the properties of UV curable films were critically evaluated in this paper.