Melt shear flow behavior of flame-retardant polypropylene composites filled with microencapsulated red phosphorus

Melt shear flow behavior and melt shear viscosity are important characterization of processing properties for polymeric materials. The effects of microencapsulated red phosphorus (MRP) content and experimental conditions on the melt shear flow behavior of the polypropylene (PP) composites were investigated using a torque rheometer. It was found that the melt shear viscosity, the torque, and energy consumption at balance state of the composites increased nonlinearly with increasing MRP weight fraction while decreased slightly with increasing temperature, the maximum torque increased with increasing the roller speed, and the dependence of the melt shear viscosity and the energy consumption at balance state on temperature roughly obeyed the Arrhenius equation. These findings would provide useful data for processing these flame-retardant PP composites.