Environmental, Health, and Legislation Considerations for Rational Design of Nonreactive Flame‐Retardant Additives for Polymeric Materials: Future Perspectives

Abstract

Increasing polymer usage has demanded functional additives that decrease fire hazards for end users. While traditional flame‐retardant (FR) additives, such as halogenated, phosphorus, and metal hydroxides, greatly reduce flammability and associated fire hazards, research has continually exposed a litany of health and environmental safety concerns. This perspective aims to identify the key components of a successful FR additive and address material, environmental, and health concerns of existing additives. Legislation surrounding FRs and persistent organic pollutants is also discussed to highlight political perception that has resulted in the increased chemical regulations and subsequent banning of FR additives. Finally, future directions of this field regarding nonreactive additives, focusing on the use of bioinspired materials and transition metal chemistries to produce alternatives for polymers with efficacies surpassing traditional additives are presented.

Molecules Featuring the Azaheterocycle Moiety toward the Application of Flame-Retardant Polymers

“…When designing flame retardants that contain azaheterocycles, researchers must consider combustion toxicity and potential human toxicity, making these aspects crucial to their investigations. 46…”

A Novel Anderson‐Type POMs‐Based Hybrids Flame Retardant for Reducing Smoke Release and Toxicity of Epoxy Resins

“…Polymers find wide applications in various fields of human life, but they have high flammability, making them prone to fire hazards including thermal hazards (i.e., burning) and non-thermal hazards (i.e., smoke toxicity). [1][2][3][4] In recent years, fires caused by electronic, electrical, and wirerelated issues have become increasingly common. Epoxy resin (EP), an important electronic packaging material, accounts for more than 90% of the market.…”

Sulfonate-Group-Containing Polymeric Polyamide for Simultaneous Transparency and Flame Retardancy of Polycarbonate

“…Numerous approaches have been used to adjust the fire safety of polymers, in which the most effective method is to incorporate flame retardant additives. , However, halogen-containing flame-retardant additives usually pose environmental hazards due to their high biotoxicity and potential accumulation in organisms. , Phosphorus flame-retardant additives are low-cost and have high efficiency, but traditional phosphate flame retardants exhibit a low initial decomposition temperature, , which may deteriorate some performances of PC. Sulfur-containing flame retardants, such as sodium trichlorobenzenesulfonate (STB) and potassium diphenylsulfone sulfonate (KSS), , have also been used in PC.…”