Flame Retardant: Silently Guarding Our Safety As A ‘Firewall’

This is a powerful expert in brominated flame retardants, and can be considered an upgraded version of some previous environmentally unfriendly old products. It has good thermal stability and very high flame retardant efficiency, and is a commonly used main force in the manufacturing of many flame retardant plastics, such as PP, PBT, PA and other engineering plastic products. It is also commonly used in wire and cable sheaths. It looks like a white powder, but it has a characteristic of being difficult to support alone. Usually, it needs to be used with a good friend antimony trioxide to achieve the strongest effect. However, people are still concerned about the environmental impact of its combustion products.

This can be said to be the “model worker” and “honest person” in flame retardants, with the largest dosage and relatively affordable price. It is a representative of inorganic flame retardants, which are non flammable, non-toxic, and can also suppress smoke. Its working principle is very practical, relying on “selfless dedication” – it decomposes and absorbs water at high temperatures, absorbs a large amount of heat to cool the material, and the generated water vapor can also dilute oxygen, which is equivalent to physical fire extinguishing. So it is an important basic flame-retardant material in many wires, cables, and carpet adhesives. However, its nature is quite superficial and requires a large amount (often around half) to be effective, which sometimes affects the strength of the plastic itself.

This is a ‘technical stream’ and the ‘core engineer’ in the expansion flame retardant system. Unlike the one above, which only cools down by brute force, it has “wisdom” – when encountering a fire, it can skillfully “blow” a thick and fluffy carbon layer foam on the surface of the material, like a fire shield to block heat and oxygen. Therefore, it is a key component of many fire retardant coatings or flame retardant coatings, and is also commonly used to protect polyurethane foam and other materials. It is usually a white powder, but it is quite delicate and easy to absorb moisture, so it is important to pay attention to moisture during storage and use.

It is basically not flame retardant, but it is recognized by the industry as “the best supporting role”! When paired with bromine based flame retardants, it can produce an amazing effect of “1+1>2”, greatly improving flame retardant efficiency. It can be understood that bromine based flame retardants are the main attacker, and they are the assist king for passing key balls. It is also a white powder, but its “talent” relies entirely on the presence of halogen (bromine/chlorine) partners, and using it alone is useless for heroes.

This is also an important member of the bromine family, belonging to the additive type. Its characteristic is that its molecular weight is relatively small, and it is particularly compatible with materials such as polypropylene, with good compatibility. Therefore, after being added, its impact on the physical properties of the plastic itself is relatively small, but its flame retardant efficiency is high. Therefore, it is common in polypropylene fibers and some injection molded products. It is also a white or light yellow powder.

This is a ‘concentration expert’ because the phosphorus content is very high, so the flame retardant efficiency is extremely strong, usually only a little bit needs to be added to manage. Mainly used in materials such as nylon. It itself is a reddish purple powder, but due to its inherent fire risk and easy discoloration of the material, most of the products sold on the market are coated with “microcapsules”, which are both safe and have a dark gray color, making it much more convenient to use.

This contestant belongs to the “self-contained system”, which contains both an “acid source” that can generate carbon and a “gas source” that can foam in its molecules. It can start its own set of expansion and flame retardancy, which is very efficient. And it has good thermal stability, is not easy to migrate out, and produces white products, which perform well in many engineering plastics.

It can be seen as the “cousin” of aluminum hydroxide, with a similar mechanism of action, also relying on heat absorption and dehydration to cool down and suppress smoke. But this’ cousin ‘is more heat-resistant and has a higher decomposition temperature, so it can be used in some engineering plastics with higher processing temperatures, which is one of its major advantages. Similarly, it also requires a large amount and preferably undergoes surface treatment to establish a good relationship with the plastic.

This is the representative of “reactive” in brominated flame retardants. It is not simply mixed in like the previous ones, but participates in chemical reactions as raw materials during plastic synthesis, becoming a part of the plastic molecular chain. The benefit of this is that the flame retardant effect is more long-lasting and less likely to precipitate. So, it is commonly used to manufacture some high demand intrinsic flame retardant plastics.

This can be considered as the “gentleman” in flame retardants. Its flame retardant method is relatively mild, by migrating to the surface of the material to form a strong layer of silicon containing carbon for protection. Its advantage is that it often improves the original properties of plastics, such as impact resistance and flowability, rather than sacrificing them for flame retardancy. It is usually used as an auxiliary athlete, in combination with other flame retardants, to add icing on the cake.