The Effect of Hydrotalcite and Zinc Oxide on Smoke Suppression of Commercial Rigid PVC

To reduce the smoke release of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) during burning, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and zinc oxide (ZnO) powders were used to modify the polymer. The results indicated that the addition of LDHs‐ZnO had a significant effect on smoke suppression. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) reached a maximum value and the smoke density rank (SDR) exhibited a minimum value when the weight percentages of LDHs and ZnO in PVC were 3% and 2%, respectively. Thermal stabilities of the modified PVC and degradation products were investigated by means of thermogravimetry and pyrolysis‐gas chromatography‐mass spectra (Py‐GC‐MS). The LDHs‐ZnO obviously accelerated the decomposition of PVC to release hydrogen chloride, and the decomposed PVC consequently produced the trans‐conjugated polyene sequences, which easily formed crosslinked structures. However, a cyclization reaction in PVC chain without the additives produced aromatic compounds such as benzene, toluene, and naphthalene at 350°C. Even though, an amount of aromatic compounds was released from the PVC modified with LDHs‐ZnO at the temperature of 600°C, the content of the decomposed products is relatively lower compared to unmodified PVC.

Keywords:

• PVC
• smoke suppression
• flame retardance
• hydrotalcite
• zinc oxide
• layered double hydroxide

Acknowledgment

We thank the National High‐Tech 863 Project (2002AA302616 and 2005AA302H30) for financial support.