Abstract
Flame retardant and mechanical properties of low density polyethylene (LDPE)-surface modified Mg(OH)2 composites have been investigated. Surface modification of Mg(OH)2 was conducted by employing different kinds of polysiloxane oils. A more pronounced enhancement in flame retardancy was achieved with the Mg(OH)2 modified with methyl hydrogen polysiloxane oil, probably due to a change in surface state from hydrophobic to hydrophilic nature by the modification, leading to high dispersion in polyethylene matrix. The flame retardancy of composites increased with increasing the amount of the oil used for surface modification, but tended to saturate beyond 2 wt% of Mg(OH)2, provided that the content of the surface modified Mg(OH)2 in the composites was kept constant at 40 wt%. In contrast, the yield strength decreased with increasing the oil up to 5 wt%.
