Green and Scalable Fabrication of Core–Shell Biobased Flame Retardants for Reducing Flammability of Polylactic Acid

The design of flame-retardant biocomposites based on biobased flame retardants (FRs) represents a promising direction for creating a sustainable world. To date, it remains a major challenge to explore a green and scalable strategy for the design of highly effective, biobased FRs for bioplastics, such as polylactic acid (PLA). Herein, we have demonstrated a green, facile fabrication approach for a core–shell-structured biobased flame retardant (APP@CS@PA-Na) via layer-by-layer assembly using water as the assembly media. With electrostatic interactions, APP@CS@PA-Na was prepared by sequential assembly of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) with positively charged chitosan (CS) and then negatively charged phytic acid salt (PA-Na). The addition of APP@CS@PA-Na can enhance both the flame retardancy and the toughness of PLA. With the addition of 10 wt % APP@CS@PA-Na, the resultant PLA composite can pass an UL-94 V-0 rating and meanwhile shows an increased elongation at break by 28.4%, compared with that of neat PLA (8.1%). Through the analysis of the volatile gases and the residues, the flame retardant mechanism of APP@CS@PA-Na in PLA plays the key role in the condensed-phase. This work will broaden the practical application field of PLA, such as in electric and electronic and fibers fields.