In situ growth of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of MXene by γ-ray irradiation to fabricate EVA composite: The improvement of flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and mechanical properties

A large amount of toxic smoke and heat generated by the combustion of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) poses a significant threat to human fire escape evacuation. This work aims to use γ-ray to prepare e-MXene@Ag hybrid flame-retardant materials by the method of in-situ reduction, and EVA composites are prepared by melt blending to reduce the smoke and toxic gases produced during combustion significantly. Compared with pure EVA, the total heat release, total smoke release, and the production rate of CO and CO2 produced by the combustion of EVA composite with 1wt% e-MXene@Ag1.0 decreased by 30.3%, 33.3%, 18.2%, and 20.1% respectively, while the content of residue increased by 907.4%. The fire hazard reduction of EVA composite materials was due to the physical barrier, catalytic carbonization and adsorption of the e-MXene@Ag1.0 hybrid. In addition, e-MXene@Ag1.0 can also further increase the mechanical properties of EVA composites due to its own "multi-contact point limit structure."