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

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. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.