Enhanced thermal properties of poly(lactic acid)/MoS₂/carbon nanotubes composites

In this work, few-layered molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) was functionalized with metal oxide (M_xO_y) nanoparticles which served as a catalyst for carbon nanotubes (CNT) growth in the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process. The resulting MoS₂/M_xO_y/CNT functionalized nanomaterials were used for flame retarding application in poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The composites were extruded with a twin-screw extruder with different wt% loading of the nanomaterial. Full morphology characterization was performed, as well as detailed analysis of fire performance of the obtained composites in relation to pristine PLA and PLA containing an addition of the composites. The samples containing the addition of MoS₂/M_xO_y/CNT displayed up to over 90% decrease in carbon oxide (CO) emission during pyrolysis in respect to pristine PLA. Microscale combustion calorimetry testing revealed reduction of key parameters in comparison to pristine PLA. Laser flash analysis revealed an increase in thermal conductivity of composite samples reaching up to 65% over pristine PLA. These results prove that few-layered 2D nanomaterials such as MoS₂ functionalized with CNT can be effectively used as flame retardance of PLA.