A facile approach to prepare anhydrous MgCO 3 and its effect on the mechanical and flame retardant properties of PVC composites

Abstract Anhydrous MgCO 3 is considered a promising inorganic filler because of its many outstanding properties. In this study, a facile approach was developed to prepare anhydrous MgCO 3 using urea as CO 2 source. MgCO 3 with cube‐like morphology (MC‐cube) was prepared and then modified with β‐cyclodextrin (CD) (CD@MC‐cube) in order to improve its interfacial adhesion with PVC matrix. The results indicate that the incorporation of MgCO 3 can not only reinforce and toughen PVC composites, but it can also enhance their thermal stability and flame retardancy. Specifically, the impact strength of CD@MC‐cube/PVC composite with 4 wt% of CD@MC‐cube is increased by 92.5%, and the total smoke production and the total heat release of CD@MC‐cube/PVC composite with 12 wt% of CD@MC‐cube are decreased by 38.8% and 51.3% compared with that of PVC matrix, respectively.