How can modified particles achieve multi-functional integration of flame retardancy, antistatic properties, and thermal conductivity?
Publish Time: 2025-12-25
As single-function polymers are no longer sufficient to meet the performance requirements of complex working conditions, developing modified particles with multiple functions such as flame retardancy, antistatic properties, and thermal conductivity has become an important research direction in materials science. Through rational structural design and composite strategies, modified particles can achieve integrated functionality, thereby significantly improving the overall performance of materials.1. Functional Design Concept and Synergistic MechanismThe core of multi-functional integration lies in the compatibility and synergistic effect between different functional components. For example, flame retardants are usually phosphorus, nitrogen, or metal hydroxide compounds, while antistatic agents are mostly ionic or nonionic surfactants, and thermally conductive fillers often use highly thermally conductive inorganic materials such as boron nitride, alumina, and graphene. Simple physical blending can easily lead to problems such as poor compatibility, uneven dispersion, and mutual interference of performance. Therefore, advanced modification technologies such as core-shell structures, graft copolymerization, and in-situ composites are needed to ensure that the functional components are arranged in an orderly manner at the nanometer or micrometer scale, forming a microstructure of "functional partitioning and synergistic effect."
2. Pathways to Achieve Flame Retardant Function
Flame retardancy is primarily achieved through gas-phase or condensed-phase flame retardancy. In modified particles, intumescent flame retardant systems can be coated onto the particle surface or chemically bonded to the polymer backbone. Furthermore, introducing two-dimensional or one-dimensional materials such as nanoclay and carbon nanotubes can not only improve flame retardant efficiency but also enhance mechanical properties. In recent years, bio-based flame retardants have also been increasingly integrated into multifunctional particle systems due to their environmental friendliness.
3. Construction Methods for Antistatic PropertiesAntistatic function relies on the formation of continuous charge conduction pathways on or within the material surface. Traditional methods involve adding small-molecule antistatic agents to the polymer, but these are prone to migration and precipitation. In contrast, in-situ loading of conductive fillers or ionic liquids within modified particles can achieve long-lasting antistatic effects. Specifically, by controlling the percolation threshold of the conductive network, a surface resistivity below 10⁹ Ω/sq can be achieved while maintaining low addition levels, meeting industrial antistatic standards.4. Optimization Strategies for Thermal ConductivityHigh thermal conductivity requires highly efficient phonon transport channels within the particles. Single fillers are often limited by interfacial thermal resistance, while constructing a "thermally conductive framework + interfacial modification" structure can effectively reduce thermal resistance. For example, introducing a hybrid filler of plate-like boron nitride and spherical alumina into modified particles, followed by surface treatment with a silane coupling agent, can improve its dispersibility and interfacial bonding in the polymer matrix. Furthermore, directional alignment technology can further enhance thermal anisotropy.5. Integrated Examples of Multifunctional PropertiesBy using layer-by-layer self-assembly technology to composite polydopamine-coated boron nitride with ammonium polyphosphate, multifunctional particles with high thermal conductivity, excellent flame retardancy, and good antistatic properties can be prepared. Another strategy is to use reactive extrusion to blend and granulate ionic liquids, expanded graphite, and metal-organic frameworks; the resulting particles exhibit synergistic flame retardant, thermally conductive, and antistatic properties in epoxy resin.The multifunctional integration of modified particles is not a simple superposition of individual functions, but a systematic integration based on materials chemistry, interface engineering, and structural design. In the future, with the development of intelligent responsive materials, self-healing systems and green manufacturing processes, multifunctional modified particles will play a greater role in the fields of lightweight, high-safety and high-reliability materials, and promote the in-depth development of polymer composite materials towards high performance and functionalization.
