Efficient flame-retarded ethylene vinyl acetate composite containing microencapsulated expandable graphite and polyphosphoric acid

The most conspicuous problem regarding fire retardation of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer is that the flame-retardant efficiency of traditional fire retardants is very low. How to achieve high-efficient flame retardation has long been a big challenge. Herein, polyurea-modified microencapsulated expandable graphite (MEG) was synthesized through in-situ polymerization, and it was found that the proper combination of MEG and polyphosphoric acid (PPA) exhibits an unexpectedly high flame-retardant efficiency to EVA. The incorporation of just 5 wt% MEG/PPA enables EVA to achieve V-0 rating in UL-94 flammability test, increases its limiting oxygen index from 19.3% to 25.7%, and reduces its peak heat release rate by 72% during combustion. The EVA/MEG/PPA composite, containing 5 wt% MEG/PPA, not only demonstrates improved fire retardancy, smoke suppression, and processability compared to virgin EVA, but also maintains good electrical insulation, water resistance, and mechanical properties. The high fire-retardant efficiency is ascribed to the larger expansion volume of MEG and the formation of high-quality intumescent char, which shield the polymer from burning. This work renders a simple and cheap approach for development of high-efficient flame-retarded EVA with good processability and mechanical property simultaneously.