Flame retarding polyamide 6 with melamine cyanurate and layered silicates

The flammability behavior of the system polyamide 6 (PA 6) + melamine cyanurate (MC) with or without organically modified layered montmorillonite (OMMT) or sodium montmorillonite (Na⁺MMT) was studied. The high degree of flame retardancy (FR) obtained with 13 wt% MC is maintained upon adding up to 0.2 wt% OMMT or Na⁺MMT. Increase mass % of OMMT is antagonistic to the MC effect. The rate of dripping decreases while the size and mass of drops in the UL‐94 tests increases with increasing wt% OMMT indicating increase in viscosity of the melt and decrease in the rate of sublimation of melamine. Addition of poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) decreases the viscosity and partially restores the FR rating. Na⁺MMT does not increase the viscosity and the FR ratings are partially preserved. The peak of heat release rate (PHRR) in the cone calorimeter decreases with increased loading of OMMT. Addition of Na⁺MMT or PVP has little influence on the PHRR. The time of ignition decreases with increase in OMMT, but is not affected when Na⁺MMT is used. This is explained by the low thermal conductivity of the clay containing surface layer of samples during pyrolysis and combustion. Mechanistic considerations are presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.