Controllable synthesis and flame-retardant properties of spherical zinc borate nanostructure

A nanosphere-like zinc borate 4ZnO·B₂O₃·H₂O was successfully synthesised through homogeneous precipitation reaction, with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide as the surfactant. X-ray diffractometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy were utilised to characterise the samples. These crystal products demonstrated spherical morphology with about 50-100-nm particle size. Moreover, the effect of initial pH combined with concentration of raw materials was briefly studied. The effect of char promotion of nanosphere-like zinc borate 4ZnO-B₂O₃·H₂O in polystyrene as flame retardant was also revealed via the pilot study.