Aluminum Diethylphosphinate as a Flame Retardant for Polyethylene: Investigation of the Pyrolysis and Combustion Behavior of PE/AlPi-Mixtures

The popularity of organic polymers despite their high flammability forces the introduction of flame retardants (FR) such as metal phosphinates into the combustible material. The thermal behavior of aluminum diethylphosphinate (AlPi) as FR in the widely used polymer ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is investigated here. The study focuses on the effect of the FR on the gas phase activity when a polymer is pyrolyzed or burned. For this purpose, the fast pyrolysis of AlPi was investigated by differential mass-spectrometric thermal analysis (DMSTA). Also, the thermal and chemical structures of diffusion flames of UHMWPE + AlPi specimens were investigated using micro thermocouples and molecular beam mass spectrometry, respectively. Small amounts of AlPi (2.5 wt.%) decrease the gas temperature significantly by a maximum of 155 K related to FR-free polymer flames, indicating a retardancy effect of the additive on the flame. From the results of subsequent limiting oxygen index (LOI) tests, it is obvious that a PE burn-up cannot be achieved in a self-sustained flame when an additive content above 10 wt.% is used as FR. In the mass-spectrometric studies, the phosphorus-containing species produced in the pyrolysis experiments (DMSTA) of the neat AlPi as well as the species which are formed in flames during combustion experiments can be detected. In the flames, the concentration of the phosphorus containing compounds peaks at low heights above the polymer surface which indicate a gas phase activity of AlPi or its pyrolysis products. Besides a charring layer on top of the burning surface could be noticed. The use of AlPi as a FR for UHMWPE shows flame retardant effects in both the condensed and the gas phase.