Use of nanoclay to improve fire performance of glass fibre composites

Abstract

There is an urgent need to improve the fire performance of fibre composites so that they can be used in infrastructure applications. Nanoparticles from clay has been well known as a potential precursor of nanocomposites because of the significant improvement in mechanical properties and their availability. Nanoclay contains very thin layers of silicates, in which the octahedral sheet of alumina is sandwiched between two tetrahedral sheets of silica. Montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay, the most widely used type, is often treated with cation-organic surfactants to render it organophilic. The addition of 3-5% organophilic clay into polymeric matrix can enhance the mechanical and thermal performance..