Designing High‐Performance Ablative EPDM With a Reactive Modified Basalt Fiber Skeleton

ABSTRACT To meet the stringent requirements for advanced aerospace thermal protection, it is essential to develop ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) materials with excellent mechanical and ablative properties. In this work, an ablative filler (D‐A‐BF) was successfully prepared through modifying basalt fiber (BF) successively with 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane, glutaraldehyde, allylamine, and 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene 10‐oxide (DOPO). Experimental analysis revealed that D‐A‐BF significantly enhanced EPDM, evidenced by a remarkable tensile strength (18.33 MPa) and an exceptional linear ablation rate (0.047 mm/s). Profoundly, during ablation, the D‐A‐BF skeleton provided sites for char formation. Concurrently, the DOPO moiety exerted a dual‐phase protection involving quenching the free radicals and catalyzing the polymer carbonization. This work proposes a valuable strategy for enhancing the overall performance of EPDM‐based ablative materials.