Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Synthesis of Transition Metal Complexes and Their Effects on Combustion Properties of Semi-Rigid Polyvinyl Chloride
1School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China.
Abstract:
Using introduction of MoO42- and Fe3+, Cu2+, or Zn2+ into amphiphilic polymers (DN) via an ion-exchange reaction, different transition metal complexes, as retardants and smoke suppressants, including (DN)Mo, Fe(DN)Mo, Cu(DN)Mo, and Zn(DN)Mo were synthesized. Combined with the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), it could be determined that ionic bonding of these ions with DN occurred. Subsequently, the influence of flame-retardant, smoke-suppression, and mechanical properties of (DN)Mo, Fe(DN)Mo, Cu(DN)Mo, and Zn(DN)Mo on polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) were tested. It was demonstrated that transition metal complexes of three metal elements, Fe(DN)Mo, Cu(DN)Mo, and Zn(DN)Mo, showed better flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and thermal stability as confirmed by microcalorimetry, limiting oxygen index (LOI), smoke density, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests, in which Cu(DN)Mo worked best due to the Lewis acid mechanism and reductive coupling mechanism. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the addition of (DN)Mo, Fe(DN)Mo, Cu(DN)Mo, and Zn(DN)Mo promoted the formation of a dense carbon layer on the PVC surface during combustion, which could protect the interior PVC. The addition of these transition metal complexes hardly impaired the mechanical properties of PVC.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Ziegler–Natta Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Properties of Organometallic Compounds
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP)
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists of a...

