Toughening and Strengthening Modification of Flame-Retardant High-Impact Polystyrene

In this study, to improve the flame-retardant and mechanical properties of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), DBDPE/Sb2O3 and HBCD/DBDPE/Sb2O3 were used to modify HIPS for flame retardant, where HBCD/DBDPE played a synergistic role in the segmental flame retardant of HIPS. The mechanical properties of flame-retarded HIPS were improved through surface, toughening and reinforcement modification, while the flame-retardant level of HIPS was guaranteed at UL94V-0. The flame-retardant and mechanical properties of flame-retarded HIPS were characterized by tensile test, impact test, LOI, UL94, TGA, DTG, DSC. The results indicated that HIPS modified with HBCD/DBDPE/Sb2O3 achieved UL94V-0 (3.2 mm), and the LOI of the modified HIPS was nearly double that of unmodified HIPS. The mechanical properties of the modified HIPS were optimized when the particle size of Sb2O3 was 500 nm, and 2-3 wt% titanate coupling agent NDZ101 was added to the flame retardant. Compared with the flame-retarded HIPS modified without tougheners and reinforcements, the HIPS modified by 22%PPO and 15%SEBS was improved the tensile strength by 33.5%, the impact strength by two times, and reached the excellent flame resistance of UL94V-0.