Do you know why TPE is difficult to do flame retardant

TPE is a thermoplastic elastomer material, is a thermoplastic elastomer material, both plastic and rubber properties, it shows the elasticity of rubber at room temperature, and can be plasticized and molded like plastic at high temperature. But do you know why this material is difficult to do flame retardant? Next, we will talk about the specific reasons.

1. Flame retardant and TPE base material compatibility is poor

TPE basic materials, including SEBS, SBS, PP, PE and other components, flame retardant and the compatibility of these materials is relatively poor, because their flame retardant mechanism is not the same, once the addition of a greater number of flame retardant, TPE original excellent performance, such as modulus of elasticity, flexibility, mechanical properties, as well as wear-resistant properties, etc., will be significantly reduced.

2. Difficulty in the selection of flame retardants

As flame retardants and TPE substrates are hardly compatible, so the selection of suitable flame retardants is the key to TPE flame retardant modification. Although halogen-free flame retardant is friendly to the environment, its flame retardant effect is not so good. Moreover, due to the low density of non-halogenated flame retardants, when adding more, it will further affect the compatibility between TPE and flame retardants.

3. Impact of processing

Adding flame retardants may interfere with the processing characteristics of TPE, for example, it will make its melt fluidity reduced, making the elastomer in the molding process has difficulties. So in the actual processing time, must carefully control the process parameters, in order to achieve the best balance between processing performance and flame retardant properties.

4.TPE materials flame retardant solutions

In order to enhance the flame retardant properties of TPE, while ensuring that the material and processing performance will not be affected, you can take the following approaches: First, the use of halogen-free and good compatibility with the TPE liquid flame retardant, taking into account the environmental protection and mechanical properties; second is the flame retardant high molecular weight and long carbon chain surface treatment, to enhance the compatibility of it with the TPE to reduce the migration and precipitation; third is the optimization of processing The third is to optimize the processing, adjust the process parameters and mold design to improve processing efficiency and product quality.

Although there are many challenges in TPE flame retardant modification, through the rational selection of flame retardants, optimization of processing technology and other methods, can improve the flame retardant properties, while taking into account the material properties and processing efficiency, to expand its application areas.