The potential of metal oxalates as novel flame retardants and synergists for engineering polymers

The bromine-containing blends had better processability and both TGA and cone calorimetric studies showed that the PA66/poly(pentabromobenzyl acrylate)/ZnOx sample not only yielded the highest residues in air and nitrogen at 500 and 580 °C, but also the lowest peak heat release rate value of 398 compared with 1276 kW/m2 for pure PA66. The derived Es value for this blend is 1.17 suggesting a small level of synergy between the zinc oxalate and poly(pentabromobenzyl acrylate) flame retardant. The possible role of zinc bromide is discussed.