Electron beam irradiation of zinc borate flame retardant containing acrylonite-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites

Abstract

The effects of electron beam radiation and zinc borate on the mechanico-physical properties and flame resistivity of magnesium hydroxide (MOH)- acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) composites have been investigated. The increasing of irradiation dosages has gradually improved the tensile strength and gel content of all samples by inducing the degree of crosslinking networks formed in ABS matrix. Analysis shows that higher amount of zinc borate is desirable to achieve promising tensile strength because zinc borate can attach into the interfaces between MOH particles and ABS matrix. Moreover, the addition of zinc borate could also retard the flammability of ABS as evidenced by LOI results. The crosslinking networks formed could improve fire resistance by reducing the melt dripping phenomenon. This is expected because the crosslinking networks can effectively minimize the oxygen gas to penetrate through the polymer structure to participate actively in the combustion activity.