A way to suppress the deterioration in mechanical properties of polyamide 6 (PA6) is required, especially with high loading of flame retardants in the matrix. In this study, a novel aromatic Schiff base diepoxide (DES) was synthesized. It exhibited an efficient chain extension effect on PA6 and a synergistic flame-retardant effect with aluminum diethylphosphinate (AlPi) for PA6. The PA6 composite with 16 wt.% AlPi only passed UL-94 V-0 rating at 1.6 mm thickness, while the combination of 1.5 wt.% DES with 13 wt.% AlPi induced PA6 to achieve a UL-94 V-0 rating at 0.8 mm thickness. The tensile, flexural, and Izod notched impact strengths were increased by 16.2%, 16.5%, and 24.9%, respectively, compared with those of V-0 flame-retarded PA6 composites with 16 wt.% AlPi. The flame-retarded mechanism of PA6/AlPi/DES was investigated by cone calorimetry and infrared characterization of the char residues and pyrolysis products. These results showed that DES had a synergistic effect with AlPi in condensed-phase flame retardation by promoting the production of aluminum phosphorus oxides and polyphosphates in the char residues.
Keywords: Schiff base; chain extension; flame retardancy; mechanical properties; polyamide 6.