- Author
- Nyden, M. R. | Forney, G. P. | Brown, J. E.
- Title
- Molecular Modeling of Polymer Flammability: Application to the Design of Flame-Resistant Polyethylene.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Macromolecules, Vol. 25, No. 6, 1658-1666, 1992
- Keywords
- polyethylenes | flammability | thermal degradation | char | crosslinking | molecular weight | simulation | validation | ionizing radiation
- Identifiers
- molecular dynamics; reaction channels
- Abstract
- Molecular dyanmic simulations of the thermal degradation of polyethylene were used to idenfity factors which might be effective in reducing polymer flammability by promoting the formation of a residual char. Computer movies of the calculated trajectories indicate that corss-linked polymers, such as those obtained from exposure of polyethylene to ionizing radiation, will undergo further corss-linking when burned, eventually forming a high molecular weight, thermally stable char. This prediction was confirmed in flammability tests of gamma-ray-irradiated polyethylene.