Directional Properties of Flame Retarded PP Sheet Molded

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2010’ International Symposium on Flame-Retardant Materials & T echnologies, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, Sept.17-20, 2010 Directional Properties of Flame Retarded PP Sheet Moldedby Uniaxial StretchingDing-Hua Li*, Lan-Lan He, Chao Ding, Na Wu, Rong-Jie YangSchool of Materials, Beijing Institute of Technology, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, P. R. China Keywords: polypropylene; flame retardancy; uniaxial stretching; directionalityPolypropylene (PP) sheets are widely used in automative, electronic and instrument industry, with many advantages including low density, non-toxicity, excellent electrical insulativity, resistance to impact and flexion. During the uniaxial stretching molding process of flame retarded PP sheet, PP molecules have experienced the complicated orientation under the action of force and heat; and chain orientation in the condensed-state structure of PP can determine the mechanical and thermal behaviors of PP sheet [1]. In this work, the directional properties of flame retarded PP sheet molded by uniaxial stretching have been investigated via limited oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 vertical burning test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and universal material testing machine.ExperimentalCommercial PP (melt flow rate = 3 g/10min) was produced by Basell Campany. Ammonium polyphosphate (APP, flame retardant), synergistic agent (FRP), antioxidant (AO) and processing agent (PH-2) from domestic market were used as received. The flame retarded PP sheet was prepared according to the formulation in Table 1.Table 1. The formulation of flame retarded PP sheetIngredient PP APP FRS PH-2 AO Loading/wt% 49.5 40 4.5 5 1The predried APP, FRS and AO were mixed to be homogeneous by stirring.Subsequently, the mixture, PH-2 and PP were compounded in a twin-screw extruder. Then after granulating and drying stage, flame retarded PP was extruded through a die with flat outlet and moleded into sheets of 0.4mm thickness through uniaxial stretching. The process flow diagram for PP sheet is drawn in Figure 1.Figure 1.Process flow diagram of flame retarded PP sheet.Results and DiscussionThe specimens of PP sheet were cut along longitudinal direction (extrusion direction) and transverse* Corresponding Author(s): E-mail: dli@234direction (perpendicular to extrusion direction), separately. The test results of flame retardancy and mechanical properties are listed in Table 2.Table 2.LOI, UL-94 vertical burning rate and tensile strength of flame retarded PP sheet in different directions Performance Parameters Tensile strength / MPa LOI / % UL-94Transverse direction 16.9 29.0 No rating, flaming drops/particles Longitudinal direction 32.1 31.1 V-0It is obviously that the tensile strength in longitudinal direction is about twice that in transverse direction. As displayed in Figure 2, the fracture surface of transverse specimen is smoother with a few sticky points, which indicates that stick-slip occurred during failure breaking and it should be brittle fracture. In contrast, the rough fracture surface of longitudinal specimen is characteristic of gliding fracture, which is evident of high tensile strength.(a) (b)Figure 2.Morphology of fracture surfaces of flame retarded PP sheet in transverse(a) and longitudinal (b) directionMechanical properties are influenced by molecular orientation of polymers. In the molding processof PP sheet, the orientation is classified as flow orientation and stretch orientation. Flow orientation occurs in the extrusion die, but for the extrusion melt, strenuous thermal motion at high temperature leads to strong disorientation. Consequently, flow orientation contributes little to the sheet performances.PP chains are oriented commonly in uniaxial stretching process. It is reported [2-4] that the uniaxial longitudinal orientation of polymer chains resulted in the ordered arrangement. As orientation degree increased, there were more stretched chains and less folding chains. As a result, density and strength along the orientation direction is raised, longitudinal mechanical properties were enhanced greatly.The LOI and UL-94 data in Table 2 have exhibited the directionality too. Especially in UL-94 test, transverse specimen could not be rated because of flaming particles/drops, but longitudinal specimens could reach V-0 with very short afterflame time. Detailed observation of the char residue after UL-94test can be carried out via SEM. Compared to the char of transverse specimens in Figure 3(a), the charin Figure 3(b) is more continuous and more compact. Correspondingly, Figure 2(a) shows the non-uniform distribution of particles and Figure 2(b) reflects that inorganic particles are well235dispersed with tight cross-linked structure formed. This suggests that under the orientation effect of PP chains, the particles such as APP, AO etc. are located between stretched chains, so that the distribution density is more uniform at the cross section. That is why the char is of good quality and more effective as a barrier during burning. Thus flame retardancy is promoted for the longitudinal specimens.令(a) (b)Figure 3. SEM images of char residues in transverse (a) and longitudinal(b) direction after UL-94 test of flame retarded PP sheetBased on the further analysis for vertical burning process,it is found that the determination of burning rate is also close related to the directionality of mechanical properties. After the specimen is ignited from its bottom, the flaming particles/drops would come into being if the melt segment round the flame had not enough strength to support the subjacent matter. For this reason, the specimen could not pass V-0 rating.ConclusionsBecause of the long-chain structure, PP chains, chain segments or microcrystallites can be arranged along the direction of external force during uniaxial stretching process of flame retarded PP sheet. With different orientation degree, a new condensation-orientation structure is formed. Furthermore, signigicant changes are brought about in mechanical, thermodynamic and combustion behaviors.The directional flame retardancy of PP sheet is not only due to the directionality of mechanical property, which causes the melt droplet of transverse specimen in vertical burning test, but also due to the distribution nonuniformity of inorganic particles in the extrusion direction, which leads to dissimilar charring quality and impacts on the flame retardant effect in the condensation phase. It is necessary to make further study to improve the directionality of sheet performances in the molding process of uniaxial stretching.References(1)Huy, T.-A.; Adhikari, R.; Lüpke, T. et al. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys.,2004, 42, 4478-4488.(2)Shen, K.; Hu, W.; Xiang, Z. et al. Polym. Mater. Sci. Eng., 2002, 1, 145-148.(3)Zhao, X.; Sun. Chem. Ind., 2010, 3, 38-39.(4)Čemák, R.; Obadal, M.; Habrová, V. et al. Rheo. Acta., 2006, 45, 366-373.236。