Halogen-free intumescent flame-retardant ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer system based on organic montmorillonite and graphene nanosheets

Halogen-containing flame retardants are not preferred for environmental reasons. Herein, a halogen-free intumescent flame-retardant ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA/IFR) system containing organic montmorillonite (OMMT) and graphene nanosheets (GNSs) is fabricated with well dispersion structure, enhanced thermal-oxidative resistance at high temperature. Interestingly, the amount of residual chars from thermogravimetric analysis is increased to 12.7 wt % at 700 °C, the EVA/IFR composite containing both OMMT and GNSs exhibits the best flame retardancy with the lowest peak heat release rate value of 529.58 kW m−2, and the highest limited oxygen index value of 24.8%. The excellent flame retardancy is attributed to the formation of complete and compact protective char layer. Furthermore, the decreases of the mechanical properties caused by the addition of IFR are relieved and a high volume resistivity is maintained when combining OMMT and GNSs in the EVA/IFR system together. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46361.