A new cobalt chelate as flame retardant for polypropylene filled with magnesium hydroxide

Abstract The flammability properties of polypropylene (PP) containing magnesium hydroxide can be significantly improved by using varying amounts of a newly prepared cobalt chelate. The chelate (resin) is based on an N -(4-methyl phenyl) acrylamide monomer crosslinked by 4,4′-bis-(acrylamido)diphenylsulfone. Different formulations of magnesium hydroxide and the cobalt chelate were used as flame retardant for PP. Thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimetry and UL 94 techniques were used to assess the flammability properties of the formulated PP samples. It was found that 5 and 10 g of the prepared cobalt chelate mixed with 45 and 40 g, respectively, of Mg(OH) 2 were the best among the investigated formulations.