Comparison of the Effect of an Organoclay,Triphenylphosphate, and a Mixture of Both on the Degradation and Combustion Behaviour of PC/ABS Blends

Summary: Polycarbonate Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene blends (PC/ABS) with flame retardants Triphenyl Phosphate (TPP), nanoclay and their mixtures were prepared in a twin- screw extruder. The morphological properties were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) which showed the intercalated structure of nanoclay in the matrix. Thermal stability of the samples was studied using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and the degradation kinetic parameters were determined using various methods including Kissinger, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Coats-Redfern methods. It was found that the sample containing both TPP and nanoclay has the highest activation energy. The activation energy order of PC/ABS blends with different flame retardant packages, obtained by Kissinger method agrees well with that obtained by Coats-Redfern. Cone calorimetry and limited oxygen index (LOI)/underwriters laboratory 94 (UL94) methods were used to investigate the fire behaviour and flammability of materials. The reduced mass loss rate (MLR), peak heat release rate (PHRR) and enhanced LOI of the composite containing mixture system confirmed a synergistic effect of TPP and nanoclay.