Enhancement of Thermal Stability, Conductivity and Smoke Suppression of Polyethylene Composites with Exfoliated MoS₂ Functionalized with Magnetite

This work reports a facile fabrication method to modify exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (e-MoS2) nanosheets with magnetite nanoparticles with various size distribution. The obtained materials have been utilized as nanofillers of polyethylene to enhance its thermal properties and flame retardance. The incorporation of magnetite modified MoS₂ nanosheets leads to the reduction of the peak heat release rate. The best thermal conductivity has been noticed for composites with e-MoS₂/Fe₃O₄ with 2 wt. % of nanofillers. The lowest CO emission was observed for the PE/e-MoS₂ composite containing also 2 wt. % of Fe₃O₄. All composites with exfoliated MoS₂ exhibited greater thermal properties in respect to the pristine polyethylene.