Flame retardants, their use and environmental impact

Petrová Š., Soudek P., Vaněk T.
CHEMICKÉ LISTY 109 [9]: 679-686, 2015

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Abstract: Fires are a common cause of damage to people and property, and also create a wide variety of acute and chronic pollutants, including acid gases and persistent organic chemicals. Flame retardants are highly required chemicals that improve the thermal resistance of the material. Nowadays, there are six main groups of chemicals that can be added to various kinds of polymers or materials. These include phosphorus (phosphine phosphonates, phosphates), silicon (linear silanes, siloxanes), boron (boric acid, borates, carboranes), nitrogen (melamine derivatives), metal hydroxides (aluminum and magnesium hydroxides) and nanomaterials. Generally used halogenated flame retardants are characterized by high efficiency, but due to their toxicity and bioaccumulation are limited in recent years. At the moment, the preferred mechanisms are a combination of nitrogen flame retardant and the phosphorus compounds. The future seems to be given to the nanomaterials.
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IEB authors: Šárka Petrová, Petr Soudek, Tomáš Vaněk