In today's high-tech development, the widespread application of polymer materials has penetrated into every corner of our lives. However, as the application of materials continues to expand, the importance of their flame retardant properties has become increasingly prominent. Halogen flame retardants are widely used due to their high flame retardant properties, but with the enhancement of environmental awareness, the research and application of non-halogen flame retardants has gradually become a hot topic. However, compared with halogen flame retardants, non-halogen flame retardant mechanisms face many limitations and challenges.

Limitations of non-halogen flame retardant mechanisms

Non-halogen flame retardants, such as nitrogen-phosphorus intumescent flame retardants, have environmental advantages, but their flame retardant mechanism is relatively complex and affected by many factors. Its flame retardant mechanism mainly relies on the process of esterification and expansion into carbon. In this process, the flame retardant reacts with the polymer material at high temperature to form a carbon layer, thereby isolating oxygen and heat to achieve a flame retardant effect.

However, this mechanism is affected by many factors. Different polymer materials have different requirements for the amount of flame retardant added, which brings inconvenience to practical applications. The addition of fillers and additives will also affect the flame retardant mechanism. These substances may interact with the flame retardant, causing the flame retardant mechanism to fail. For example, in the glass fiber reinforced PP system, the presence of glass fiber as an inorganic material will destroy the esterification carbonization mechanism of the nitrogen-phosphorus intumescent flame retardant, greatly reducing the flame retardant effect.

Flame retardant challenges of glass fiber reinforced PP system

In the glass fiber reinforced PP system, although theoretically the reduction of PP amount should be more conducive to the flame retardant, the actual situation is quite the opposite. There are two main reasons for this:

Interference of glass fiber

As an inorganic material, glass fiber has much higher thermal conductivity than PP. At high temperatures, glass fiber will quickly transfer heat to the entire system, causing the flame retardant to decompose and become ineffective prematurely at high temperatures. Glass fiber will also chemically react with the flame retardant, further destroying its flame retardant mechanism.

Architectural complexity

The structure of glass fiber reinforced PP system is relatively complex, and factors such as interface interaction and filler dispersion will affect the flame retardant performance. The existence of these factors makes the distribution and function of flame retardants in the system more complicated, thus increasing the difficulty of flame retardancy.

Response strategies and prospects

Facing the challenge of non-halogen flame retardant mechanism, we need to start from multiple aspects and seek effective coping strategies. We can start from the molecular design of flame retardants to develop more efficient and stable flame retardants; we can reduce the impact on flame retardant mechanism by optimizing the selection of fillers and additives; we can also start from the overall design of the system and improve the flame retardant performance by improving the interface interaction of the system and improving the dispersibility of fillers.

Looking to the future, with the continuous development of science and technology, we have reason to believe that the non-halogen flame retardant mechanism will be further optimized and improved. Through continuous research and innovation, we are expected to develop new non-halogen flame retardants that are more efficient, environmentally friendly and easy to use, providing strong guarantees for the safe application of polymer materials.