Antistatic, Flame Retardant and Smoke Suppression Properties of Surface‐Modified Magnesium Hydroxide Synergistically Reinforced Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride

ABSTRACT Although plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is widely used, its low flammability and electrostatic sensitivity limit its application. Here, we prepared plasticized PVC compounds with integrated antistatic, flame retardant, and smoke suppression properties using surface‐modified magnesium hydroxide (mMH), unmodified magnesium hydroxide (uMH), the antistatic plasticizer bis(2‐(2‐butoxyethoxy)ethyl) adipate (DBEEA) and PVC. Electrical tests showed that after 8 weeks of water immersion in the absence of magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH) 2 ), the migration of DBEEA was unimpeded, and the surface resistivity and volume resistivity were increased by a factor of 10 and 6, respectively. In the uMH/mMH system, the hindered migration limited the increase in resistivity (e.g., the volume resistivity of PVC/uMH 50 increased from 1.26 × 10 7 to 9.62 × 10 7 Ω·m). Flame retardant tests showed about a 20% increase in limiting oxygen index, about a 40% reduction in smoke density, and V−0 vertical burning for 100 phr uMH, demonstrating enhanced fire resistance. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) showed that the homogeneous dispersion of the Mg(OH) 2 maintains excellent low‐temperature resistance and thermal stability. The migration behavior of DBEEA was confirmed by attenuated total reflection‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR) test. Also, the addition of fillers has little effect on the mechanical properties.