Flame retarders

Ultraviolet absorbers are a form of light screen which absorb primarily in the ultraviolet range. It is a requirement for most ultraviolet absorbers that absorption in the visible range should be negligible if this were not so the resultant instant colour formation could be worse than that experienced after prolonged exposure of the polymer. 

The ultraviolet absorber could dispose of absorbed energy by radiation, by conversion into heat or by chemical changes leading to stable products. The most important commercial absorbers, such as the o-hydroxybenzophenones, o-hydroxyphenylbenzotriazoles and salicylates, appear to function by conversion of electronic energy into heat. The properties of the main types of ultraviolet absorbers are summarised in Table 7.7. 

Such agents are not in themselves powerful absorbers of ultraviolet light. They are, however, capable of reacting with activated polymer molecules by the following mechanisms  

In the above scheme A represents the excited polymer, Q the quenching agent and [A.Q] an excited complex. 

The use of quenching agents in polymers is a recent development. Of particular interest are the nickel(II) chelates in polypropylene film and fibre and the even newer hindered amines which appear to combine the roles of antioxidant cmd quenching agent. 

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Antimony penioxide, Sb20j, is yellow (Sb plus cone. HNO3). Decomposes to Sb02 on heating. Gives antimonates(V) with alkalis. Used as a flame retardant. 

The high degree of crystallization and the thermal stability of the bond between the benzene ring and sulfur are the two properties responsible for the polymer s high melting point, thermal stability, inherent flame retardance, and good chemical resistance. There are no known solvents of poIy(phenyIene sulfide) that can function below 205°C. 

Flame emissivity Flame ionization Flameproofing cotton Flame resistance Flame-resistant fibers Flame retardancy Flame retardant... 

FLAMERETARDANTS - ANTIMONYAND OTHER INORGANIC FLAME RETARDANTS] (Vol 10)... 

Butynediol is principally used in pickling and plating baths. Smak amounts are used in the manufacture of brominated derivatives, useful as flame retardants. Itwas formerly used in awkd oat herbicide, Carbyne (Barban), 4-chloro-2-butynyl-A/-(3-chlorophenyl)carbamate [101-27-9] C H Cl2N02 (77). 

Pentaerythritol is used in self-extinguishing, non dripping, flame-retardant compositions with a variety of polymers, including olefins, vinyl acetate and alcohols, methyl methacrylate, and urethanes. Phosphoms compounds are added to the formulation of these materials. When exposed to fire, a thick foam is produced, forming a fire-resistant barrier (see Elame retardants) (84—86). 

Acryhc and modacryhc fibers are sold mainly as staple and tow products with small amounts of continuous filament fiber sold in Europe and Japan. Staple lengths may vary from 25 to 150 mm, depending on the end use. Eiber deniers may vary from 1.3 to 17 dtex (1.2 to 15 den) 3.2 dtex (3.0 den) is the standard form. The appearance of acryhcs under microscopical examination may differ from that of modacryhcs in two respects. Eirst, the cross sections (Eig. 1) of acryhcs are generally round, bean-shaped, or dogbone-shaped. The modacryhcs, on the other hand, vary from irregularly round to ribbon-like. The modacryhcs may also contain pigment-like particles of antimony oxide to enhance their flame-retardant properties. 

An example of a commercial semibatch polymerization process is the early Union Carbide process for Dynel, one of the first flame-retardant modacryhc fibers (23,24). Dynel, a staple fiber that was wet spun from acetone, was introduced in 1951. The polymer is made up of 40% acrylonitrile and 60% vinyl chloride. The reactivity ratios for this monomer pair are 3.7 and 0.074 for acrylonitrile and vinyl chloride in solution at 60°C. Thus acrylonitrile is much more reactive than vinyl chloride in this copolymerization. In addition, vinyl chloride is a strong chain-transfer agent. To make the Dynel composition of 60% vinyl chloride, the monomer composition must be maintained at 82% vinyl chloride. Since acrylonitrile is consumed much more rapidly than vinyl chloride, if no control is exercised over the monomer composition, the acrylonitrile content of the monomer decreases to approximately 1% after only 25% conversion. The low acrylonitrile content of the monomer required for this process introduces yet another problem. That is, with an acrylonitrile weight fraction of only 0.18 in the unreacted monomer mixture, the low concentration of acrylonitrile becomes a rate-limiting reaction step. Therefore, the overall rate of chain growth is low and under normal conditions, with chain transfer and radical recombination, the molecular weight of the polymer is very low. 

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