Effects of Zinc Phytate on Flame Retardancy and Thermal Degradation Behaviors of Intumescent Flame Retardant Polypropylene

Abstract

In this paper, zinc phytate (PA-Zn) was prepared and used as a synergist in intumescent flame-retarded polypropylene (PP) composites. The results showed that the PP composites with 17 wt% IFR and 2 wt% PA-Zn has a limiting oxygen index (LOI) 29.2 and achieves the UL-94 V-0 rating. Moreover, the Peak heat release rate (PHRR) of the PP composites decreases from 374 kw/m² to 275 kw/m². Real time FTIR showed that the PA-Zn delays the emission of carbon dioxide indicating that PA-Zn slows the degradation of PP which regulates the suitability of IFR system in PP.