Toughening and Strengthening Modification of Flame-Retardant High-Impact Polystyrene

Abstract In this study, to improve the flame-retardant and mechanical properties of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), DBDPE/Sb 2 O 3 and HBCD/DBDPE/Sb 2 O 3 were used to modify HIPS for flame retardant, where HBCD/DBDPE played a synergistic role in the segmental flame retardant of HIPS. The mechanical properties of flame-retarded HIPS were improved through surface, toughening and reinforcement modification, while the flame-retardant level of HIPS was guaranteed at UL94V-0. The flame-retardant and mechanical properties of flame-retarded HIPS were characterized by tensile test, impact test, LOI, UL94, TGA, DTG, DSC. The results indicated that HIPS modified with HBCD/DBDPE/Sb 2 O 3 achieved UL94V-0 (3.2 mm), and the LOI of the modified HIPS was nearly double that of unmodified HIPS. The mechanical properties of the modified HIPS were optimized when the particle size of Sb 2 O 3 was 500 nm, and 2-3 wt% titanate coupling agent NDZ101 was added to the flame retardant. Compared with the flame-retarded HIPS modified without tougheners and reinforcements, the HIPS modified by 22%PPO and 15%SEBS was improved the tensile strength by 33.5%, the impact strength by two times, and reached the excellent flame resistance of UL94V-0.