The effect of maleic anhydride grafting on the flame retardation of plasma pretreated polyethylene

Abstract

A rotating cylindrical-type argon plasma treatment system was used for pretreating low-density polyethylene (LDPE) to graft polar vinyl monomers. Maleic anhydride (MA) was used to graft onto plasma-treated LDPE (PLDPE) using UV-induced polymerization. The MA-grafted PLDPE (MA-g-PLDPE) was characterized by FT-IR spectra, SEM, TGA and ESCA measurement. The modified PLDPE was blended with a commercial flame-retardant additive (FR 44-94S), a coupling agent, lubricant and antioxidant to improve the flammability. The flammability of these blends increases with increasing amounts of FR 44-94S. However, the tensile strength and impact strength were decreased as the amount of FR 44-94S increased. From the results of notched Izod impact strength vs flame-retardant content, this flame-retardant seemingly exhibited plasticizer characteristics. As MA-g-PLDPE and FR 44-94S were blends, the mechanical strength, such as the tensile strength, impact strength, Young's modulus and LOI increased because the grafted MA can enhance the affinity between matrix and additives.