Ioana-Elena Mihailescu, Evonik Resource Efficiency Germany, sees growing demand for new flame retardant solutions in cables, electronics (e.g. personal computer parts), construction and automobile.
Product manufacturers want safety, including a range of properties such as fire safety and low smoke emission, low chemical toxicity and product safety in use (e.g. hygiene – cleaning). The ideal flame retardant should act by mechanisms which do not increase smoke toxicity, in particular by mechanisms such as water release and char formation. For this, good dispersion in the polymer is important. Silanes offer fire safety synergy and contribute to reduced smoke emission, in combination with PIN flame retardants, as well as coating quality properties and processing improvements.
Evonik, http://corporate.evonik.com/en/ is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies. Evonik concentrates on high-growth megatrends, especially health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik Resource Efficiency supplies materials for environment-friendly and energy-efficient systems including e.g. polymers, fillers and organosilanes for the surface modification of fillers, pigments, metals, etc.