Cooperative Effect of Chemical and Physical Processes for Flame Retardant Additives in Recycled ABS

In the present work, the effectiveness of four non-halogenated flame retardants (FR) (aluminium trihydroxide (ATH), magnesium hydroxide (MDH), Sepiolite (SEP) and a mix of metallic oxides and hydroxides (PAVAL)) in blends with recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (rABS) was studied in order to develop a more environmentally friendly flame-retardant composite alternative. The mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of the obtained composites as well as their flame-retardant mechanism were evaluated by UL-94 and cone calorimetric tests. As expected, these particles modified the mechanical performance of the rABS, increasing its stiffness at the expense of reducing its toughness and impact behavior. Regarding the fire behavior, the experimentation showed that there is an important synergy between the chemical mechanism provided by MDH (decomposition into oxides and water) and the physical mechanism provided by SEP (oxygen barrier), which means that mixed composites (rABS/MDH/SEP) can be obtained with a flame behavior superior to that of the composites studied with only one type of FR. In order to find a balance between mechanical properties, composites with different amounts of SEP and MDH were evaluated. The results showed that composites with the composition rABS/MDH/SEP: 70/15/15 wt.% increase the time to ignition (TTI) by 75% and the resulting mass after ignition by more than 600%. Furthermore, they decrease the heat release rate (HRR) by 62.9%, the total smoke production (TSP) by 19.04% and the total heat release rate (THHR) by 13.77% compared to unadditivated rABS; without compromising the mechanical behavior of the original material. These results are promising and potentially represent a greener alternative for the manufacture of flame-retardant composites.