ANOMALOUS FLAMMABILITY BEHAVIOR OF CPVC (CHLORINATED POLY VINYLCHLORIDE) IN BLENDS WITH ABS (ACRYLONITRILE-BUTADIENE-STYRENE) CONTAINING FLAME-RETARDING SMOKE-SUPPRESSING COMPOUNDS/

Polymer blends are commercially important because producers and users of polymers have increasing access to recycled materials. In addition, polymer blends are capable of providing materials which extend the us eful properties beyond the range that can be obtained from single poly mer equivalents. The twin problems of high flammability and coping wit h the hazards associated with the smoke produced during burning are on ly two of an increasing list of demanding specifications which are req uired for the commercial application of many plastics. In this paper t he results of a systematic study of char formation in blends of CPVC ( chlorinated polyvinyl chloride) with ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styr ene) containing a char-forming/smoke suppressing iron(III) compound ar e discussed. Flammability and smoke data are also presented and how th e smoke suppressant may interact with the polymer is also proposed. (C ) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.