Flame retardant plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) film with selective solar spectral transparent properties

Abstract

In this work, some additives were added into plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix for the purpose of shielding ultraviolet light (UV), high-energy visible light (HEV) and near-infrared light (NIR). Furthermore, the flame retardance of the plasticized PVC films were also enhanced by adding organo-phosphorus flame retardant plasticizer such as tris(1-chloropropan-2-yl) phosphate (TCPP). The properties of PVC films were investigated by the limiting oxygen index (LOI) test and ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) spectrophotoscopy. With the incorporation of Sb₂O₃ and polyester plasticizer (PEP) into the PVC films, the resultant LOI was increased from 26% (LOI value of PVC with PEP) to 32% (LOI value of PVC with PEP/Sb₂O₃), while the transmittance of visible light decreased from 84.84% to 0.18%. The replacement of PEP in PVC films by TCPP resulted in a significant improvement in flame retardancy. The LOI increased from 26% (LOI value of PVC with PEP) to 35% (LOI value of PVC with TCPP), and the transmittance increased from 84.84% to 91.79%, respectively. Hence, a flame retardant functional PVC film was achieved by the combination of a UV absorber, pigment yellow, TCPP and indium tin oxide (ITO), which possesses a high LOI value (35%), high transmittance in the visible region (81.56%) and low transmittance in the UV region (0.40%), HEV region (62.79%) and NIR region (39.04%).