Study of Fire Retardancy and Thermal and Mechanical Properties of HDPE-Wood Composites

This article reports a study of flame retardancy and thermal and mechanical properties of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) based on high-density polyethylene and pine flour. The study shows that sample composition plays an important role in WPCs' properties. The influence of additives like fillers (SiO2 or CaCO3) and flame retardants ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and pentaerythritol (PER) on WPCs' properties has been considered. The best properties are shown in samples using SiO2 as filler and treated with the intumescent fire retardant APP/PER. Such samples have excellent fire retardancy with V-0 rating (UL-94 test) and imply that APP/PER fire retardant ensures effective fire retardancy for WPCs.