Melamine cyanurate surface treated by nylon of low molecular weight to prepare flame‐retardant polyamide 66 with high flowability

Summary In the present research, a nitrogen‐based flame‐retardant, melamine cyanurate (MCA) was surface‐treated with low‐molecular‐weight nylon through a solvent process to further improve its flowability and dispersion. The surface energy and flow energy of the modified MCA were investigated. The properties of polyamide 66 (PA66) prepared with surface‐treated and with conventional MCA were evaluated and compared. Because of lower surface energy and flow energy for modified MCA, its agglomeration degree and flow resistance are obviously decreased compared with conventional MCA, thus achieving finer and more homogenous dispersion in the PA66 matrix. Moreover, the low‐molecular‐weight nylon resin encapsulating MCA surface will melt at lower temperature during compounding with PA66; hence, it serves as a lubricant and carrier to further improve the flowability and dispersion of the flame retardants. Based on these advantages, the modified MCA flame‐retardant PA66 achieves much better flame retardancy, flowability, and mechanical properties compared with conventional MCA/PA66 under the same loading level of flame retardant (10 wt%).