Influence of ammonium polyphosphate modified with 3‐(methylacryloxyl) propyltrimethoxy silane on mechanical and thermal properties of wood flour–polypropylene composites

In this article, the influence of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and ammonium polyphosphate modified with 3-(Methylacryloxyl) propyltrimethoxy silane (M-APP) on mechanical properties, flame retardancy, and thermal degradation of wood flour–polypropylene composites (WF/PP composites) have been investigated. Polypropylene grafted with m-isopropenyl-α,α-dimethylbenzyl-isocyanate (m-TMI-g-PP) was used to improve the adhesion of WF/PP composites. APP and M-APP were used as flame retardants. The experimental results demonstrated that addition of M-APP obviously enhanced mechanical properties of WF/PP composites. According to cone calorimetry results, M-APP is also an effective flame retardant for WF/PP composites, compared to that of APP. It was also found that M-APP decreased the 1% weight loss temperature and increased char residue. The thermal degradation of wood flour based upon the first peak temperature of wood decreased from 329.3 to 322.9°C and the thermal degradation of PP based upon the second peak temperature of PP improve from 518.0 to 519.6°C, when M-APP was added to the WF/PP composites. From SEM results the char layer of the 25% M-APP systems is much more intumescent than that of the 25% APP systems, indicating that 3-(Methylacryloxyl) propyltrimethoxy silane can improve the char-forming ability of WF/PP composites. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011