Fire retardants compounds

Because of a 1973 U.S. law requiring that mattresses meet requirements for cigarette-ignition resistance, it s hard to find a healthy mattress without the fire-retardant chemicals that pose significant health risks. A report by Environment California Research and Policy Center says that some of the most commonly used fire-retardant compounds are PBDEs, which have recently been accumu-... 

Paint compounds which do not provide these features to a satisfactory degree are either low-grade paints or merely coatings. A number of coatings have been offered on the market to provide protection against fire. Some of these are effective fire-retardant compounds, but the majority will not withstand weathering and thus have limited interior use only. To overcome this deficiency, manufacturers recommend a second or protective coat of moisture-resistant material. As an alternative means of achieving this same result, fire-retardant chemicals can be sprayed or brushed on wood and protected by a normal paint after the chemical dries. 

Uses Coatings, hand modifiers, saturants, fire-retardant compounds... 

Boron. Boron compounds have been used to treat wood for fire retardancy. Borax and boric acid, the primary fire-retardant compounds, have low melting points and form glassy films on exposure to high temperature. Borax, also known as sodium tetraborate deca-hydrate, is available in other hydrated states. Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate can be used in place of the decahydrate at a weight ratio of 74 (pentahydrate) to 100 (decahydrate) (81). 

Georlette, P. Simons, J. Costa, L. Halogen-containing fire-retardant compounds. In Fire Retardancy of Polymeric Materials Grand, A.F., Wilkie, C.A., Eds. Marcel Dekker New York, 2000. 

OTHER COMMENTS used in the manufacture of white metal, bullets, thermoelectric piles, medicines chemical intermediate for fire retardant compounds, ceramics, glass additives, and paint pigments. 

Tests on the Inflammability of untreated wood and of wood treated with fire-retardIng compounds". Ln Publ. Proc. of Annu. Meet. Natl. Fire Prot. Assoc. Boston, Mass. 1915. 

Mai et al. reported on the use of AA-g-PP in aluminum hydroxide-filled PP homopolymer [41] and found the graft polymer to increase filler to polymer wetting and adhesion, as shown by electron microscopy of fracture surfaces. In addition, they found not only significant increases in fiexural strength but also a loss in notched impact strength. The loss in impact strength was most marked at low to moderate filler levels and was least at the 60% level, typical for fire-retardant compounds. It was... 

Gonoshilov, D. G., Keibal, N. A., Bondarenko, S. N., Kablov, V. F. (2010). Phosphorus Boron Containing Fire Retardant Compounds for Polyamide Fibers Proceedings of the 16th International Scientific and Practical Conference Rubber industry Raw materials. Manufactured materials. Technologies, Moscow, 160-162. 

The reaction with sodium sulfite or bisulfite (5,11) to yield sodium-P-sulfopropionamide [19298-89-6] (C3H7N04S-Na) is very useful since it can be used as a scavenger for acrylamide monomer. The reaction proceeds very rapidly even at room temperature, and the product has low toxicity. Reactions with phosphines and phosphine oxides have been studied (12), and the products are potentially useful because of thek fire retardant properties. Reactions with sulfide and dithiocarbamates proceed readily but have no appHcations (5). However, the reaction with mercaptide ions has been used for analytical purposes (13)). Water reacts with the amide group (5) to form hydrolysis products, and other hydroxy compounds, such as alcohols and phenols, react readily to form ether compounds. Primary aUphatic alcohols are the most reactive and the reactions are compHcated by partial hydrolysis of the amide groups by any water present. 

Initiators (1) and (2) have 10-h half-life tempeiatuies of 237°C and 201°C, respectively. It has been reported that, unlike organic peroxides and ahphatic azo compounds, carbon—carbon initiators (1) and (2) undergo endothermic decompositions (62). These carbon—carbon initiators are useful commercially as fire-retardant synergists in fire-resistant expandable polystyrenes (63). 

Inorganic boron compounds are generaHy good fire retardants (59). Bode acid, alone or in mixtures with sodium borates, is particularly effective in reducing the flammabHity of ceUulosic matetials. AppHcations include treatment of wood products, ceUulose insulation, and cotton batting used in mattresses (see Flame retardants). 

Economic Aspects and Uses. The principal producers in the United States are U.S. Borax and Chemical Corp., North American Chemicals Co., and American Borate Corp. Their combined aimual capacity in 1989 was reported to be 735,000 metric tons of equivalent boron oxide [1303-86-2], B2O2 (20). Of this toimage, 50% is exported. About 30% of boron compounds are used in glass fiber insulation. Another 30% is used in other type fibers and borosihcate glasses. Boron is also used in soaps and detergents, fire retardants, and agriculture (see Boron compounds). 

Chromium compounds are also used ia fire-retardant formulations where their function is to prevent leaching of the fire retardant from the wood and corrosion of the equipment employed. 

The compounds so formed have excellent thermal stability and are self-extinguishing and even completely fire-retardant. Their properties are given in Table 13.14. A few common types of insulators and supports are shown in Figure 13.31. 

The role of antimony oxide is not entirely understood. On its own it is a rather weak fire retardant although it appears to function by all of the mechanisms listed above. It is, however, synergistic with phosphorus and halogen compounds and consequently widely used. Other oxides are sometimes used as alternatives or partial replacements for antimony oxide. These include titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and molybdenic oxide. Zinc borate has also been used. 

Bromine compounds are often used as flame retardant additives but 15-20ptsphr may be required. This is not only expensive but such large levels lead to a serious loss of toughness. Of the bromine compounds, octabromo-diphenyl ether has been particularly widely used. However, recent concern about the possibility of toxic decomposition products and the difficulty of finding alternative flame retarders for ABS has led to the loss of ABS in some markets where fire retardance is important. Some of this market has been taken up by ABS/PVC and ASA/PVC blends and some by systems based on ABS or ASA (see Section 16.9) with polycarbonates. Better levels of toughness may be achieved by the use of ABS/PVC blends but the presence of the PVC lowers the processing stability. 

However, PBT shows a good balance of properties and when it is suitably modified by, for example, glass fibre or fire retardants, some very useful compounds can be produced. The particular characteristics emphasised by the suppliers include ... 

Antimony trioxide (SbaOj). It is produced from stibnite (antimony sulphide). Some typical properties are density 5.2-5.67 g/cm- pH of water suspension 2-6.5 particle size 0.2-3 p,m specific surface area 2-13 m-/g. Antimony trioxide has been the oxide universally employed as flame retardant, but recently antimony pentoxide (SbaOs) has also been used. Antimony oxides require the presence of a halogen compound to exert their fire-retardant effect. The flame-retarding action is produced in the vapour phase above the burning surface. The halogen and the antimony oxide in a vapour phase (above 315 C) react to form halides and oxyhalides which act as extinguishing moieties. Combination with zinc borate, zinc stannate and ammonium octamolybdate enhances the flame-retarding properties of antimony trioxide. 

This symposium addressed several important issues in bromine chemistry. A major part has been devoted to stereochemistry and mechanism of electrophilic bromination of olefins. Other topics included new selective methods of bromination and oxybromination, brominations in presence of solid supports and catalysts, organobromine compounds as synthons, recent developments in brominated fire retardants and toxicological and environmental aspects of brominated compounds. 

Report 97 Rubber Compounding Ingredients - Need, Theory and Innovation, Part II Processing, Bonding, Fire Retardants, C. Hepburn, University of Ulster. 

C. Hepburn, Rubber compounding ingredients—need, theory and innovation Part II—Processing, bonding, fire retardants. Report 97, Rapra, 1997. 

The diaminobenzenes are made from benzene by a combination chlorination-nitration route although para-phenylene diamine is also made directly from aniline. orr/to-Phenylene diamine is widely used for the preparation of biologically active compounds such as fungicides and veterinarian medicines. The mera-diamine is used in fire-retardant textile fibers ( Nomex ) while the / ara-diamine finds use in high-strength textile fibers used for bullet-proof vests, sails, army helmets, and other types of fiber-reinforced plastics ( Kevlar ). 

---