Antimony oxide compounds for flame retardant ABS polymer

Antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) is a common additive in flame retardant formulations and a study has been made to determine the effects of adding it alone, or with four commercial brominated materials (OBDPO, BTBPE, TBBA and PDBS80) to ABS polymer. The results focus upon mechanical, rheological, microscopical and flame retardant properties, and the effects of different Sb2O3 grades with average particle sizes ranging from 0.1 to 11.8 μm. The Sb2O3 was mainly studied up to 12 wt% loading in ABS, since this is considered to be the maximum level used in commercial flame retardant formulations. [Continues.]