Marianne Cochez, Université de Lorraine, France and José-Marie Lopez Cuesta, Ecole des Mines d’Alès, France, presented a range of developments in PIN flame retardant technologies. Technologies offering potential include nano-forms of flame retardants.
(These nano-forms can both improve performance for the same flame retardant loading and also offer new functionalities, but raise questions about possible migration of nano-materials into the environment), nano-clays, graphene, bio-based or bio-derived flame retardants (e.g. metallic phytates, phloroglucinol, lignin derivatives), and a wide range of new phosphorus-based PIN flame retardants.
Important challenges for PIN flame retardant development include continuing to improve environmental profiles, polymer product and processing performance and compatibility with bio-sourced materials and composites, and ensuring that new FRs maintain fire safety performance with ageing. In all cases, the production complexity and so cost is a key criteria, and new substances proposed by researchers must offer realistic feasibility for scale-up to industrial production.