Advantages and Disadvantages of Inorganic Flame Retardants

Advantages and Disadvantages of Inorganic Flame Retardants

The widespread use of polymer materials has accelerated the growth of the flame retardant industry. Flame retardants are a highly important category of material additives in today’s society, effectively preventing fires, controlling their spread, and contributing significantly to production safety and daily life. Materials treated with flame retardants can effectively prevent, slow, or stop the spread of flames when exposed to external fire sources, thereby achieving flame-retardant effects. There are many types of flame retardants, and everything has two sides—flame retardants also have their pros and cons. Below is an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of various inorganic flame retardants.

Disadvantages of Inorganic Flame Retardants:
The main drawback of inorganic flame retardants is their high required dosage (mostly over 50%) in polymer materials, which can easily impair processing performance and physical properties. Solutions include surface treatment with coupling agents, ultrafine particle refinement, and nanotechnology, which represent a key direction for future development.

Advantages of Inorganic Flame Retardants:

1. Aluminum Hydroxide (ATH): Combines flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and filling functions into one. It is non-toxic, non-corrosive, highly stable, does not produce toxic gases at high temperatures, is cost-effective, and widely available.
2. Magnesium Hydroxide (MTH): Decomposes between 340–490°C, offering excellent thermal stability and outstanding flame retardancy and smoke suppression effects. It is particularly suitable for processing polyolefin plastics at higher temperatures.
3. Red Phosphorus: Provides smoke suppression, low toxicity, and highly efficient flame retardancy. However, red phosphorus is prone to oxidation in air, may spontaneously combust, and gradually releases toxic phosphine gas over long-term storage. Its compatibility with polymer materials is poor, with microencapsulation being the primary solution.
4. Ammonium Polyphosphate (APP): Also an intumescent flame retardant, it contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, exhibits good thermal stability, and is nearly neutral in composition. It can be mixed with other flame retardants, offers good dispersibility, and is low in toxicity, ensuring safe usage. However, when the polymerization degree of APP decreases, it becomes somewhat water-soluble. Additionally, APP is slightly acidic and prone to moisture absorption in humid environments.

   Taifeng is a producer of halogen free flame retardant in China, the key product is ammonium polyphosphate . More info., pls cotnact lucy@taifeng-fr.com