Abstract: A phosphorus-silicon flame retardant (EMPZR) and magnesium hydroxide [Mg(OH)2] was introduced into ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA) as a composite flame retardant . It was found that the flame retardancy of the copolymer exhibited the best flame retardant performance when the content of the composite flame retardant [EMPZR: Mg(OH)2 =1:4] was 50 wt %, the limiting oxygen index reached 36.0 %. TGA showed that the char yield was 32.2 % at 600 ?C. The thermal mass loss rate of the composite decreased compared with neat EVA. All these suggested that there was a good synergistic effect between EMPZR and Mg(OH)2.

Key words: ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, phosphorus-silicon flame retardant, magnesium hydroxide, synergistic flame retardation