Study of hydromagnesite and magnesium hydroxide based fire retardant systems for ethylene–vinyl acetate containing organo-modified montmorillonite

A new flame retardant (FR) system for ethylene–vinyl acetate, mainly based on the combination of hydromagnesite (HM, obtained from an industrial by-product) and organo-modified montmorillonite (oMMT) has been compared with a magnesium hydroxide (MDH) and oMMT flame retardant system. The presence of oMMT in association with both hydrated minerals gave a strong decrease of heat release rate in cone calorimeter tests. Moreover, the HM/oMMT combination leads to a better improvement of resistance to ignition and self-extinguishability in comparison with the MDH/oMMT one. The study of residues formed during thermal decomposition revealed the formation of forsterite (Mg 2SiO 4) when either MDH or HM was used in combination with oMMT. SEM observations of residues showed sintering of the mineral particles at high temperature particularly in the case of HM/oMMT composition.