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Four processing methods were employed to control the localization of intumescent flame-retardant (IFR) and clay in linear low-density polyethylene/nylon 6 (LLDPE/PA6) blends and the effect of IFR and clay localization in blends on flame retardancy was investigated. The results obtained from the LOI and UL-94 tests showed that the flame retardancy in the blends with clay localization in the LLDPE phase was better than that of the blends with clay localization in the PA6 phase. Cone calorimeter test results demonstrated that IFR localization in the PA6 phase caused lower peak heat release rate (PHHR) than in the LLDPE phase. The combined effect resulted in the best flame retardancy exhibited in the blends with localization of IFR in the PA6 phase and clay in the LLDPE phase in comparison with the blends with other localization of IFR and clay. Scanning electron microscopy showed that clay localization in the LLDPE phase and IFR localization in the PA6 phase promoted the formation of an integrated and highly expansive char layer. It is believed the results of the study provide the references for optimizing the flame retardancy of polymer blends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The thermal oxidative degradation kinetics of pure PP and the flame-retarded (FR) PP materials with intumescent flame-retardant (IFR) master batches in situ prepared in twin-screw extruder were investigated using Kissinger method, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa method and Coats–Redfern method. The results showed that the activation energy order of PP and FR PP samples with different blowing agent/char former ratios obtained by Kissinger method agrees well with that obtained by Coats–Redfern one, which well illustrates the relationship between the composition of IFRs and their flame-retardancy, i.e. FR material with richer carbonization agent has higher activation energy for thermal oxidative degradation, hence leading to a better flame-retardancy. For Flynn–Wall–Ozawa method, due to its adoption of Doyle approximation, the obtained activation energy and its order of samples are very different from those of both Kissinger and Coats–Redfern methods. Criado method was finally used to determine the degradation reaction mechanism of various samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]