Effect of fillers on fire retardancy of intumescent polypropylene blends

Addition of Ammonium Polyphosphate/Polyamide-6 system is known to provide flame retardancy in many polymers blends via an intumescent process. Particulate fillers (talc and calcium carbonate) are used in large quantities in PP. Combination of fillers in PP can modify the properties of the polymeric matrix. This study investigates the effect of fillers (talc and calcium carbonate) on the fire performance of the Polypropylene/Ammonium polyphosphatc/Polyamide-6 blend. It is shown that the fire performance strongly depends on the nature of the filler used. Talc increases and calcium carbonate decreases in the fire performance of the blend.