What Is Flame Retardant
Flame retardants are applied to materials, such as plastics and textiles, to prevent or slow the spread of fire. They can be incorporated into the fiber, impregnated into the substrate or coated to the substrate in various ways. Scientists have developed many different chemicals designed to prevent consumer and industrial items from catching fire so easily. These are known as flame retardants. They can be applied to many different items, such as furnishings, electrical devices, construction materials, and transportation equipment. There are hundreds of types of flame retardants, each with a different chemical structure. Bromine, chlorine, phosphorus, nitrogen, metals, or boron can all be used in their production. Of these, brominated flame retardants are the most common, and are used widely in the consumer goods industry.
Advantages of Flame Retardant
Fire prevention
Flame retardants are able to provide a number of consumers products with an essential layer of fire protection. Flame retardants are able to stop fires from starting as well as limit their spread and decrease the amount of damage resulting from a fire. Some are designed to work on their own and others act as a synergist. This means they can increase the fire protective abilities of other types of flame retardants. Product manufacturers use a variety of flame retardants.
Decrease fire damage
This provides essential time for people to escape a house engulfed in flames. Flame retardants are the unseen protection able to minimize or eliminate the devastating effects of a fire.
Filling material
These studies involved a variety of retardant formulations. Studies showed that the two key indicators of fire danger are heat release as well as time of the heat release. Polyurethane foam filling was much more flammable than cotton fillings.
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Our factory
Anhui Sanji Chemical Co., Ltd. found in 2021, one young established enterprise specialize in Import and Export of Chemical Products and Polyolefin Additives, mainly delivers solution and service to the industry projects of mineral, chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas.
Our product
Our product covers leaching agent and adsorbent which mainly for gold extraction application, chemicals for electro-plating, also involved in middle additives of Antioxidant, Flame Retardant, Antistatic Agent, Plasticizer, Flexibilizer, Carbon Black and etc. Besides, our imported HDPE, LLDPE, PP, PS and other polymers are widely used in mianland of China, in the field of home appliance, automobile, beverage bottol, toys, food packages, electronics and etc.
Experienced team
Over the years, our strong experienced chemical specialists and engineers team, serious inspection and laboratory test, on-time trouble shooting and site service, powerful financial capability solution with banks and big capacity routine warehouse keeping for on-time delivery.
Technical teams focus on sample test and goods inspection; logistics team focus on international seal & air transportation, warehouse keeping and domestic logistics.
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Follow up the performance of supplied original products and proposed replacements, build historical curve for continuous performance improvement, research of technical improvement with necessary test; trouble shooting in case of any failure in process service which defects may arise from production, storage, transportation and logistics, optimizing whole work procedures
Halogen flame retardants
Halogen flame retardants are widely used. This type of flame retardant includes some of the most popular options, such as Bromine Flame Retardants (BRFs). Bromine Flame Retardants are well known as they’re used in numerous ways. These fire retardants are relied upon to improve the fire resistance of everything from textiles to construction materials. Active bromine atoms are used in BRFs to halt chemical reactions that occur as a fire burns. This makes it more difficult for the fire to burn, reducing its capability to spread in a short space of time. Such fire retardants are used to slow a fire, rather than extinguish it completely, but their use makes it far easier for homeowners and firefighters to tackle a fire and put it out safely. There is a downside to this type of fire retardant, however. The use of BRFs is being phased out, as concerns have begun to mount over the safety implications of some of the chemicals found in these products. The use of polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers is now being limited, particularly with regard to products designed for the home.
Inorganic fire retardants
Inorganic compounds aren’t usually used in isolation, but they’re often found in fire retardant systems. That’s because they tend to require other forms of flame retardant to be used in conjunction with them in order to be able to slow the spread of a fire sufficiently. But that doesn’t mean that inorganic compounds are ineffective as a fire prevention measure. Far from it. Antimony oxides wouldn’t do much to stop a fire on their own, but if they’re used together with bromine or chlorine based fire protection products, they really improve the efficiency of the fire retardant. The use of antimony oxide means that bromine and chlorine break down quickly, improving their effect quite dramatically. Some inorganic flame retardants can be used on their own. These typically include products made with aluminium and magnesium hydroxides. The chemical compounds found in these fire retardants halt the burning process by releasing gases such as water vapour. This absorbs the energy of the fire, and adds a protective layer which reduces the damage that the fire can do.
Nitrogen flame retardants
One of the most popular types of fire retardant is the nitrogen flame retardant. These products are typically melamine-based, and they’re highly effective in a number of different settings. The use of melamine in fire retardants makes a real impact, as it causes char to be formed faster, reducing the oxygen supply of the fire. The reduction in oxygen supply makes it more difficult for the fire to spread, slowing it down and making the job of extinguishing it far easier.
Intumescent coatings
Intumescent coatings are widely used to reduce the risk of fire. These coatings are often added during construction, but they can also be applied once a building has been built. During construction, intumescent coatings are added just like a layer of paint. They’re painted onto everything from walls to steel beams and wood. The coatings expand when they’re exposed to high temperatures, giving the material beneath them an extra layer of insulation. As a result, the risk of structural damage is significantly reduced even in the event of a serious fire. Intumescent coatings are made using spumific compounds. These chemicals start to break down in high temperatures, releasing a significant amount of gas.
Phosphorus fire retardants
Phosphorus fire retardants work by increasing the production of char. This slows the spread of a fire by reducing its oxygen supply. Phosphorus fire retardants are used in several different ways. They can be added during the manufacturing process, or they can be chemically bound to different materials in order to improve their fire resistance. Either way, they're effective at protecting all kinds of different materials from the risk of fire. When char is formed, it makes it more difficult for combustible gases to be released. This can dramatically reduce the amount of damage that fires can cause, while also protecting the products the fire retardant has been applied to incredibly well.
Flame Retardants in Textiles
Brominated flame retardants (BFR)
BFRs are used to prevent fires in electronics and electrical equipment. For example in the enclosures of TV sets and computer monitors, printed circuit boards, electrical cables and insulation foams. In the textile industry BFRs are used in fabric back-coatings for curtains, seating and upholstered furniture. Examples are Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs). BFR's are persistence in the environment and there are concerns about the risks these chemicals pose to public health.
Chlorinated flame retardants (CFR)
Chlorinated flame retardants are used in plastics, textiles and electrical equipment. CFR's are persistence in the environment and there are concerns about the risks these chemicals pose to public health.
Flame retardants based on phosphorus (PFR)
This category is widely used both in polymers and textile cellulose fibres. Of the halogen-free organophosphorus flame retardants in particular, triaryl phosphates (with three benzene rings attached to a phosphorus-containing group) are used as alternatives to brominated flame retardants. Organophosphorus flame retardants may in some cases also contain bromine or chlorine. Toy safety standard EN 71-9 forbids two specific phosphate flame retardants in accessible textile materials used in toys intended for children under 3 years of age. These two flame retardants are more likely to be found in textile materials that are back-coated with plastics such as PVC than with the textile fabric itself.. Tri-o-cresyl phosphate, the most toxic tricresyl phosphate, is far less likely to have been used than tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate.
Nitrogen-containing flame retardants
Nitrogen-containing flame retardants are based on pure melamine or its derivatives, i.e. salts with organic or inorganic acids. Pure melamine as flame retardant is mainly used for flame retarding polyurethane flexible foams for upholstered furniture in homes, car/automotive seats and baby seats.Melamine derivatives as FRs are used in construction and in electric and electronic equipment. Flame retardants are added on purpose to improve the safety of textiles. Make sure that to avoid any restricted or banned flame retardants.
How Do Flame Retardants Work
The way in which a flame retardant works will depend on the type used, and how the chemicals within it react. Like with fire retardant, some flame retardants will experience an endothermic reaction when heated. When properties like huntite and aluminium hydroxides are heated, this reaction occurs, removing heat from the item it is protecting and cooling it in the process.
Some flame retardants work to reduce the flammability of items or surfaces in buildings by decreasing the presence of oxygen and gas near items that are burning. Oxygen is needed for a fire to start and spread, so reducing the amount of oxygen around an item means that it will be much harder, or impossible, for it to ignite.
Another way in which flame retardant can work to prevent the spread of flames is through thermal shielding. Intumescent coatings applied to items can cause the surface of the polymer to turn into a char, which creates a thermal insulation barrier between the fire and the unburned areas. The char effectively separates the flame from the item and slows down the heat transfer
Retardation Mechanisms of Flame Retardant
Endothermic degradation
Some compounds break down endothermically when subjected to high temperatures. Magnesium and aluminium hydroxides are an example, together with various carbonates and hydrates such as mixtures of huntite and hydromagnesite.The reaction removes heat from the substrate, thereby cooling the material. The use of hydroxides and hydrates is limited by their relatively low decomposition temperature, which limits the maximum processing temperature of the polymers (typically used in polyolefins for wire and cable applications).
Thermal shielding (solid phase)
A way to stop spreading of the flame over the material is to create a thermal insulation barrier between the burning and unburned parts. Intumescent additives are often employed; their role is to turn the polymer surface into a char, which separates the flame from the material and slows the heat transfer to the unburned fuel. Non-halogenated inorganic and organic phosphate flame retardants typically act through this mechanism by generating a polymeric layer of charred phosphoric acid.
Dilution of gas phase
Inert gases (most often carbon dioxide and water) produced by thermal degradation of some materials act as diluents of the combustible gases, lowering their partial pressures and the partial pressure of oxygen, and slowing the reaction rate.
Gas phase radical quenching
Chlorinated and brominated materials undergo thermal degradation and release hydrogen chloride and hydrogen bromide or, if used in the presence of a synergist like antimony trioxide, antimony halides. These react with the highly reactive H· and OH· radicals in the flame, resulting in an inactive molecule and a Cl· or Br· radical. The halogen radical is much less reactive compared to H· or OH·, and therefore has much lower potential to propagate the radical oxidation reactions of combustion.
Selection Criteria for Flame Retardants
Fire retardancy
Identification of the flammability test requirements is the initial criterion for selection of the appropriate flame retardant. Flame-retardant selection is affected by the test method to be used to assess flame retardancy. Some tests can be passed with relatively low levels of flame retardants, while high levels of very powerful flame retardants are needed to pass other tests. Test requirements and standards are usually unique to an industry such as electrical / electronic or building and construction. Most test requirements apply to the completely assembled and manufactured product and not simply to the adhesive material.
Efficiency/cost
The relationship between fire retardant efficiency and cost is an essential consideration in the selection of a flame retardant. The greater the flame retardant efficiency of a product for a particular resin, the less will be needed. The amount to be used also depends on the application and specification.
Smoke and combustion products
When fire occurs in a confined space, such as a home or airplane passenger compartment, often the gases generated due to the combustion process provides the most serious threat. As a result, considerable attention has been given to the generation of smoke and toxic combustion products. Given free access to oxygen, polymers like polyethylene that are based entirely on carbon and hydrogen will burn to give a mixture of water vapor and co2, but form toxic co if without enough oxygen. Polymeric materials which contain the elements chlorine, nitrogen and sulfur will always burn to produce noxious and toxic materials whether there is an adequate oxygen supply or not.
Ease of compounding
Flame retardant additives may adversely affect the processing characteristics of polymers. Changes occurring in the viscosity of liquid systems or in the flow of polymers that are melted during processing can cause problems. Non-melting flame retardants can make the base polymer more difficult to process. However, melt bendable and plasticizing additives such as phosphoric acid esters may be desirable. These can act as processing aids, reduce internal stress in the bond line, and generally provide the adhesive with higher flexibility and impact strength.
Compatibility
Polymer compatibility indicates how well the flame retardants interact with the base polymer with which it is mixed. Issues related to solubility, chemical resistance, or reactivity with other formulation components may prevent the use of an otherwise desirable flame retardant. Significant alteration of the rate of reaction of thermoset polymers or the speed and degree of crystallization of thermoplastic polymers may also result from the use of some flame retardants.
Adequate processing temperature stability
For the formulator, the flame retardant must be sufficiently stable to survive the processing temperatures. The temperatures routinely used to process many polymers severely restrict the number of flame retardants suitable for incorporation. Yet it must not be too stable to function as an effective flame retardant when in service. Typically, thermal gravimetric analysis (tga) is used to evaluate the decomposition or volatilization temperatures of flame retardants and to aid in the selection of the most cost effective materials.
Effect on properties
A flame retardant must be chosen for a specific polymer to minimize the degradative effect that it may have on mechanical and thermal properties. Since flame retardants are frequently used at high levels, they often have a dramatic effect on the basic mechanical properties of adhesive systems in which they are used.
Anhui Sanji Chemical Co., Ltd. found in 2021, one young established enterprise specialize in Import and Export of Chemical Products and Polyolefin Additives, mainly delivers solution and service to the industry projects of mineral, chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas. Our product covers leaching agent and adsorbent which mainly for gold extraction application, chemicals for electro-plating, also involved in middle additives of Antioxidant, Flame Retardant, Antistatic Agent, Plasticizer, Flexibilizer, Carbon Black and etc. Besides, our imported HDPE, LLDPE, PP, PS and other polymers are widely used in mianland of China, in the field of home appliance, automobile, beverage bottol, toys, food packages, electronics and etc. Our head quarter locates in Hefei city, capital of Anhui Province, main market is in mainland, Middle east and Africa. Over the years, our strong experienced chemical specialists and engineers team, serious inspection and laboratory test, on-time trouble shooting and site service, powerful financial capability solution with banks and big capacity routine warehouse keeping for on-time delivery, which enable us to build long term and strategic partnership with world famous brands including BASF, DOW chemical, INEOS, LG, MITSUBISHI, SANYO, Clariant, Eastman, Dupont , Arkema, Orion, Cabot, Jacob and etc were the driving forces for our successful development. Moreover, strategic and annual agency agreement with polymer manufactures also enable us steady supply to related industry day and month in most ecomical way.
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