Synergistic effects of aluminium hypophosphite on the flame retardancy and thermal degradation behaviours of a novel intumescent flame retardant thermoplastic vulcanisate composite

The synergistic effects of aluminum hypophosphite (AHP) on the flame retardancy, thermal degradation behaviors of a novel intumescent flame retardant thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV/IFR) composite were investigated. The results showed that the combination of AHP with IFR showed evident synergistic effects on the increase in the LOI value and reduction of the combustion parameters for the TPV/IFR/AHP composites at the optimum weight ratio of IFR/AHP (6/1) as evidenced by LOI, UL-94 and CCT. The TGA data revealed that AHP could change the degradation behavior of TPV/IFR composites and enhance the thermal stability of the TPV/IFR composites at high temperature. The results of FTIR, EDXS, LRS and SEM demonstrated that TPV/IFR/AHP composites could form more continuous, dense and stable char layer on the materials surface, and consequently improving the flame retardancy. Based on these results, the possible condensed flame retardant mechanism of TPV/IFR/AHP composites was concluded in detail.