Study of Fire Retardancy and Thermal and Mechanical Properties of HDPE-Wood Composites

Abstract

This article reports a study of flame retardancy and thermal and mechanical properties of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) based on high-density polyethylene and pine flour. The study shows that sample composition plays an important role in WPCs' properties. The influence of additives like fillers (SiO₂ or CaCO₃) and flame retardants ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and pentaerythritol (PER) on WPCs' properties has been considered. The best properties are shown in samples using SiO₂ as filler and treated with the intumescent fire retardant APP/PER. Such samples have excellent fire retardancy with V-0 rating (UL-94 test) and imply that APP/PER fire retardant ensures effective fire retardancy for WPCs.

KEYWORDS:

• Polyethylene
• wood-plastic composite
• fire retardancy
• intumescent system
• filler