Study On Intumescent Flame Retardants For Polyethylene

Polyethylene (PE), with characteristics of light-mass, lower-poison, excellent electric-insulation and mechanical durability, has been widely applied in many fields such as building, transport, furniture and electrical industries. However, it has a low limiting oxygen index (LOI) value and is flammable. The fateful drawback of polyethylene restricts its wider application. Therefore, how to improve its flame retardancy becomes a big challenge.This problem can be solved by using flame-retardant additives, such as halogenated compounds and inorganic hydrated compounds. Unfortunately, halogenated compounds are serious environmentally problem, and inorganic additives have poor efficiency. Recently, intumescent flame retardants (IFRs) have received a considerable attention because they are non-halogen, low toxicity, and low smoke release. The IFRs are designed to swell and form a porous carbonaceous char layers on the surface of materials, which act as a barrier to heat, air and flammable pyrolysis products.The presence of some metal-containing compounds with IFRs seemed to enhance the flame-retardant action. It was observed that the metal salt appeared to improve the performance of IFRs/PP. Some metal chelates have been proposed that they convert alkylperoxy radicals to more stable species.In order to address the issue of halogen-free flame retardancy of PE, a novel intumescent flame retardant (CA) was synthesized based on...