Flame retardant crosslinkable compositions and articles

1. A flame retardant crosslinkable composition comprising:

(a) 35 to 75 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, ethylene-silane copolymer having 0.1 to 20 weight percent silane comonomer of the formula H 2 C═CH—Si—(OR) 3 where R is a C 1-4 alkyl group incorporated by copolymerization or grafting,

(b) 5 to 50 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, ethylene-C 3-8 α-olefin plastomer having a density less than 0.92 g/cm 3 , and

(c) 12 to 40 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, hydrated inorganic filler.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein (a) has a density of 0.865 to 0.965 g/cm 3 and melt index of 0.05 to 50 g/10 min.

3. The composition of claim 2 having 0.5 to 7.5 weight percent vinyltrimethoxysilane or triethoxysilane incorporated.

4. The composition of claim 3 wherein (a) is present in an amount from 40 to 65 weight percent and is a copolymer of ethylene and vinyltrimethoxysilane having a density from 0.915 to 0.965 g/cm 3 and melt index from 0.5 to 40 g/10 min.

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein (b) is a copolymer of ethylene and butene-1, hexene-1 or octene-1 and has a density from 0.86 to 0.90 g/cm 3 and melt index from 0.1 to 50 g/10 min.

6. The composition of claim 5 wherein (b) is an ethylene-octene-1 copolymer having a melt index from 0.25 to 20 g/10 min and is present in an amount from 10 to 30 weight percent.

7. The composition of claim 1 wherein (c) is aluminum trihydroxide or magnesium hydroxide and is present in an amount from 20 to 40 weight percent.

8. The composition of claim 1 additionally containing from 0.01 to 0.5 weight percent silanol condensation catalyst.

9. The composition of claim 8 wherein the silanol condensation catalyst is dibutyltin dilaurate and is present in an amount from 0.025 to 0.4 weight percent.

10. A flame retardant crosslinkable sheet having a thickness of about 10 to 50 mils comprised of a composition containing:

(a) 35 to 75 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, ethylene-silane copolymer having 0.1 to 20 weight percent silane comonomer of the formula H 2 C═CH—Si—(OR) 3 where R is a C 1-4 alkyl group incorporated by copolymerization or grafting, said copolymer having a density of 0.865 to 0.965 g/cm 3 and melt index of 0.05 to 50 g/10 min;

(b) 5 to 50 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, ethylene-C 3-8 α-olefin plastomer having a density from 0.86 to 0.90 g/cm 3 melt index from 0.1 to 50 g/10 min; and

(c) 20 to 40 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, hydrated inorganic filler selected from the group consisting of aluminum trihydroxide and magnesium hydroxide.

11. The flame retardant crosslinkable sheet of claim 10 which additionally contains 0.01 to 0.5 weight percent, based on the weight of the composition, silanol condensation catalyst.

12. The flame retardant crosslinkable sheet of claim 11 containing 40 to 65 weight percent (a), 10 to 30 weight percent (b), 20 to 40 weight percent (c) and 0.025 to 0.4 weight percent silanol condensation catalyst.

13. The flame retardant crosslinkable sheet of claim 12 wherein (a) is a copolymer of ethylene and vinyltrimethoxysilane having a density of 0.915 to 0.965 g/cm 3 and melt index of 0.5 to 40 g/10 min, (b) is a copolymer of ethylene and octene-1 having a melt index from 0.25 to 20 g/cm 3 , (c) is aluminum trihydroxide having an average particle size from 1 to 10 microns, and the silanol condensation catalyst is dibutyltin dilaurate.

14. A reinforced membrane produced from the sheet of claim 10 comprising two bonded layers of flame retardant crosslinkable sheet having a fiberglass or polyester scrim layer disposed there between.

15. The reinforced membrane of claim 14 having a thickness of 45 to 125 mils.