Synthesis of a novel α-zirconium phosphate and investigation of influence on thermal stability of addition cured silicon rubber

A novel organo-modified α-zirconium phosphate was prepared by intercalating a functional 1,2,2,6,6-pentamethyl-4-(phenyldiethoxysiloxy) piperidine into α-ZrP. The structure of functional α-ZrP (IZrP) was characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR and SEM. The thermal stability of the silicon rubber (SR) composite obtained by physically mixing IZrP was investigated by TGA and DSC. The results shown that the maximum decomposition temperature (Tmax) of SR/IZrP composites increased from 514 to 540 °C as the IZrP loading increased from 0 to 5 mass% and a reduction in exothermic enthalpy from 3378 to 1520 J g−1 was observed. The maximum exothermic peak temperature had obvious enhancement from 557 to 593 °C, while in SR/IZrP/AlOH the deteriorated thermal stability was observed at T0.1 when compared with SR/IZrP. The addition of AlOH into SR/IZrP increased the exothermic enthalpy, prolonging the exothermic process and increasing the maximum exothermic peak temperature. The SEM results revealed that IZrP and AlOH were dispersed in SR with the layered structure.