Two series of new hexasubstituted cyclotriphosphazene derivatives were successfully synthesized and characterized. These derivatives are differentiated by two types of linking units in the molecules such as amide-azo (6a-j) and azo-azo (8a-j). The homologues of the same series contain different terminal substituents such as heptyl, nonyl, decyl, dodecyl, tetradecyl, hydroxyl, carboxyl, chloro, nitro, and amino groups. All the intermediates and final compounds were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen (CHN) elemental analysis. Liquid crystal properties for all compounds were determined using polarized optical microscope (POM). It was found that only intermediates 2a-e with nitro and alkoxyl terminal chains showed a smectic A phase. All the final compounds with alkoxyl substituents are mesogenic with either smectic A or C phases. However, other intermediates and compounds were found to be non-mesogenic. The study on the fire retardancy of final compounds was determined using limiting oxygen index (LOI) method. The LOI value of pure polyester resin (22.53%) was increased up to 24.71% after treating with 1 wt% of hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP). Moreover, all the compounds gave positive results on the LOI values and compound 6i with the nitro terminal substituent showed the highest LOI value of 27.54%.
A series of new hexasubstituted cyclotriphosphazene compounds (4a-j) consisting of two Schiff base linking units and different terminal substituents was successfully synthesized and characterized. The structures of these compounds were confirmed using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and CHN elemental analysis. Polarized optical microscopy (POM) was used to determine their liquid-crystal behavior, which was then further confirmed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Compounds 4a-i with heptyl, nonyl, decyl, dodecyl, tetradecyl, hydroxy, 4-carboxyphenyl, chloro, and nitro terminal ends, respectively, showed the liquid-crystal properties, whereas compound 4j with the amino group was found to be non-mesogenic. The attachment of an electron-donating group in 4j eventually give a non-mesogenic product. The study of the fire-retardant properties of these compounds was done using the limiting oxygen index (LOI). In this study, polyester resin (PE) was used as a matrix for moulding, and the LOI value of pure PE was 22.53%. The LOI value increased to 24.71% when PE was incorporated with 1 wt.% of hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP), thus indicating that HCCP has a good fire-retardant properties. The result showed that all the compounds have good agreement in their LOI values. Compound 4i with a nitro terminal group gave the highest LOI value of 28.37%.