Additives | flame retardants
Fighting fire on every front Demand for flame retardants is
growing fast but increasingly tough performance and environmental requirements present tough challenges for FR additive manufacturers.
Peter Mapleston reports
Global growth in the world flame retardant market is pitched to grow at 5-10% per year for the coming decade, but this comes with major challenges for compounders and flame retardant suppliers. Especially in the building and furniture sectors, regulators are pushing for increasing fire safety and calling for products to not only resist ignition but also to burn with lower heat emissions to delay fire “flashovers” that can limit escape opportunities for those inside burning buildings and increase dangers for firefighters. At the same time, flame retardant (FR) product development is also being geared to increasingly demanding environ- mental and health requirements. In particular, concerns about end-of-life issues and the effects of smoke and soot on fire professionals need to be addressed. And the ongoing debate over the use of halogenated materials also continues. Pinfa, the Phosphorus, Inorganic and Nitrogen (PIN) Flame Retardant Association (part of Brussels, Belgium-based Cefic), says PIN-containing, non-halo- genated flame retardants can be seen as a response to these challenges. They are said to offer good environ- ment and health profiles throughout production, processing, product use and disposal. “PIN FRs enable low-smoke, low-corrosivity solutions essential to reduce fire danger and enable escape in enclosed spaces, such as transport and buildings, as well as limiting damage to electronic systems (which are vital in case of emergency),” says Pinfa. “Reducing smoke can also mean lower production of toxic soot and fire residues. PIN substances are compat-
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ible with materials recycling and work is underway to improve knowledge in this area.” Pinfa began such a project earlier this year with the Fraunhofer LBF Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability. “An increasing range of PIN FR solutions is available
for nearly all thermoplastic applications and com- pounds, and considerable progress has been made to ensure full compatibility of processing and finished polymer quality and characteristics,” says the organisa- tion. It notes that some PIN FRs are produced from bio-sourced materials (including biological materials such as chitin or DNA) and are compatible with renewable polymers based on feedstocks such as lignin and polylactic acid (PLA).
Nanostructured research Development of highly efficient flame-retardant non-halogenated additives for thermoset and thermo- plastic polymers is also currently being undertaken within the European Union sponsored Phoenix project— again involving Fraunhofer LBF. This is concentrating on nanostructured materials and innovative processing routes, with the aim of “finding a true cost-effective and sustainable alternative” to halogenated flame retard- ants that will also deliver a significant improvement in mechanical properties and processability. “New compounding techniques such as the Nanodi-
rekt process [developed by the Fraunhofer institute for production of nano-suspensions and their direct dosing into thermoplastic matrices], and highly innovative systems such as ultrasound mixing systems coupled to
December 2015 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 17 Main image:
Flame retardant producers are
working hard to develop additive technologies that meet the latest
performance, environmental and health
requirements
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