Thermal degradation and combustion behavior of intumescent flame-retardant polypropylene with novel phosphorus-based flame retardants

The objective of this study was to develop an environmentally friendly fire-retardant polypropylene (PP) with significantly improved fire-retardancy performance with a novel flame-retardant (FR) system. The system was composed of ammonium polyphosphate (APP), melamine (MEL), and novel phosphorus-based FRs. Because of the synergistic FR effects among the three FRs, the FR PP composites achieved a V-0 classification, and the limiting oxygen index reached as high as 36.5%. In the cone calorimeter test, both the peak heat-release rate (pHRR) and total heat release (THR) of the FR PP composites were remarkably reduced by the incorporation of the novel FR system. The FR mechanism of the MEL-APP-FR-PP composites was investigated through thermogravimetric analysis and char residue characterization, and the results reveal that the addition of MEL-APP-FRs promoted the formation of stable intumescent char layers. This led to the reduction of pHRR and THR and resulted in the improvement of the fire retardancy. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.