Polydimethylsiloxane wrapped aluminum diethylphosphinate for enhancing the flame retardancy of polyamide 6

Aluminum diethylphosphinate (ADP) was wrapped with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by a facile method to improve its hydrophobic properties. The morphology and properties of PDMS-modified ADP (PDMS-ADP) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and water contact angle tests. The water contact angle of PDMS-ADP was increased from 126 degrees to 151 degrees as compared with that of ADP, which indicates that PDMS-ADP showed good hydrophobic properties. Then, ADP and PDMS-ADP were introduced into polyamide 6 (PA6) matrices to study the flame retardancy of the composites. The flammability of the PA6/ADP and PA6/PDMS-ADP composites was much lower than that of pure PA6. The composites PA6-1 (with the addition of 15 wt% ADP) and PA6-4 (with the addition of 12 wt% PDMS-ADP) could pass the UL-94 V-0 in the vertical burning test. Meanwhile, the peak heat release rates of PA6-1 and PA6-4 were 212 and 192 kW/m(2), with reductions of 67.3 and 70.4%, respectively, compared with pure PA6. These results indicated that the coating of PDMS could enhance the flame-retardant efficiency of ADP.