The need to switch to eco-friendly flame-retardant materials has assumed huge importance in recent years, mainly because of the adverse environmental impact and harmful health conditions associated with most conventional flame retardants. A survey of the global research work conducted in recent years to identify suitable alternatives to conventional flame-retardant materials reveals biological materials, composite materials, intumescents, surface coatings and some other miscellaneous material types as the promising alternatives. This work makes an attempt to summarize the main findings of research efforts that focused on these material types. It describes these material types in terms of their advantages, application conditions, challenges and suitability for specific polymers and fiber types.

nanomaterials, biomaterials, composites, organic materials, inorganic materials, intumescents, leaching, ignition time

Received: September 4, 2024; Accepted: September 19, 2024; Published: October 4, 2024

How to cite this article: Radhakrishnaiah Parachuru, Eco-friendly flame retardant materials, their application techniques and end-use performance - a summary of recent research work, International Journal of Materials Engineering and Technology 23(2) (2024), 101-117. https://doi.org/10.17654/0975044424006

This Open Access Article is Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:
[1] Giulio Malucelli, Francesca Bosco, Jenny Alongi, Federico Carosio, Alessandro Di Blasio, Chiara Mollea, Fabio Cuttica and Annalisa Casale, Biomacromolecules as novel green flame retardant systems for textiles: an overview, RSC Advances 4(86) (2014), 46024-46039. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA06771A.
[2] Lucie Costes, Fouad Laoutid, Sylvain Brohez and Philippe Dubois, Bio-based flame retardants: when nature meets fire protection, Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports 117 (2017), 1-25.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mser.2017.04.001.
[3] Ankita Hazarika, Prasanta Baishya and Tarun K. Maji, Bio-based wood polymer nanocomposites: A sustainable high-performance material for future, Vijay Kumar Thakur and Manju Kumari Thakur, eds., Eco-Friendly Polymer Nanocomposites: Processing and Properties, Springer India, 2015, pp. 233-257.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2470-9_8.
[4] Parisa Zamani, Omid Zabihi, Mojtaba Ahmadi, Roya Mahmoodi, Thathsarani Kannangara, Paul Joseph and Minoo Naebe, Biobased carbon fiber composites with enhanced flame retardancy: A cradle-to-cradle approach, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 10(2) (2022), 1059-1069.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07859.
[5] Tharindu Dhanushka Hapuarachchi, Development and characterization of flame retardant nanoparticulate bio-based polymer composites, 2010. https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/532.
[6] Young-O Kim, Jaehyun Cho, Young Nam Kim, Kun Won Kim, Byoung Wan Lee, Jae Woo Kim, Minkook Kim and Yong Chae Jung, Recyclable, flame-retardant and smoke-suppressing tannic acid-based carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, Composites Part B: Engineering 197 (2020), 108173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.108173.
[7] Z. Kovačević, S. Flinčec Grgac and S. Bischof, Progress in biodegradable flame retardant nano-biocomposites, Polymers 13 (2021), 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13050741.
[8] Yi Lu, Yaling Jia, Guangxian Zhang and Fengxiu Zhang, An eco-friendly intumescent flame retardant with high efficiency and durability for cotton fabric, Cellulose 25(9) (2018), 5389-5404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-1930-0.
[9] Chanchal Kumar Kundu, Zhiwei Li, Lei Song and Yuan Hu, An overview of fire- retardant treatments for synthetic textiles: from traditional approaches to recent applications, European Polymer Journal 137 (2020), 109911.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2020.109911.
[10] A. B. Morgan, and J. W. Gilman, An overview of flame retardancy of polymeric materials: application, technology, and future directions, Fire Mater. 37 (2013), 259-279. https://doi.org/10.1002/fam.2128.
[11] Marina Y. Soliman and Ahmed G. Hassabo, Environmentally friendly inorganic materials for anti-flammable cotton fabrics, Journal of Textiles, Coloration and Polymer Science 18(2) (2021), 97-110. https://doi.org/10.21608/jtcps.2021.73914.1058.
[12] Meini Yang, Yawen Yang, Junjiao Shi and Wenhui Rao, Fabrication of eco-friendly flame-retardant and hydrophobic coating for cotton fabric, Cellulose 30(5) (2023), 3267-3280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-023-05051-9.
[13] Wenhui Rao, Junjiao Shi, Chuanbai Yu, Hai-Bo Zhao and Yu-Zhong Wang, Highly efficient, transparent, and environment-friendly flame-retardant coating for cotton fabric, Chemical Engineering Journal 424 (2021), 130556.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.130556.
[14] A. Ghazinezami, A. Jabbarnia and R. Asmatulu, Fire retardancy of polymeric materials incorporated with nanoscale inclusions, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection (2014), 6.
https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2013-66158.
[15] A. Richard Horrocks, Flame retardant challenges for textiles and fibers: new chemistry versus innovatory solutions, Polymer Degradation and Stability 96(3) (2011), 377-392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.03.036.
[16] Indu Kumari, Sarabjeet Kaur and Ratnesh Das, Green nanomaterials in textile industry, Green Synthesis of Nanomaterials, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2024, pp. 114-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119900931.ch6.
[17] Fang Ding, Shumin Zhang, Xiaoyan Chen, Rong Li and Xuehong Ren, PET fabric treated with environmental-friendly phosphorus-based compounds for enhanced flame retardancy, thermal stability and anti-dripping performance, Composites Part B: Engineering 235 (2022), 109791.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2022.109791.
[18] Xibiao Zhang, Xian-You Zhou, Xian-Wei Cheng and Ren-Cheng Tang, Phytic acid as an eco-friendly flame retardant for silk/wool blend: A comparative study with fluorotitanate and fluorozirconate, Journal of Cleaner Production 198 (2018), 1044-1052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.103.
[19] Constantine D. Papaspyrides and Pantelis Kiliaris, Polymer Green Flame Retardants, Newnes, 2014.
[20] Dongqiao Zhang, Brandon L. Williams, Jingjing Liu, Zaili Hou, Andrew T. Smith, Sunghyun Nam, Zain Nasir, et al., An environmentally-friendly sandwich-like structured nanocoating system for wash durable, flame retardant, and hydrophobic cotton fabrics, Cellulose 28(16) (2021), 10277-10289.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-021-04177-y.
[21] TriDung Ngo, Development of sustainable flame-retardant materials, Green Materials 8(3) (2020), 101-122.
https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/full/10.1680/jgrma.19.00060.
[22] Hari T. Deo, Nagesh K. Patel and Bharat K. Patel, Eco-friendly flame retardant (FR) pet fibers through P-N synergism, Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics 3(4) (2008), 155892500800300404.
https://doi.org/10.1177/155892500800300404.
[23] Naresh Kr. Sharma, C. S. Verma, Vijayaraghavan M. Chariar and Rajendra Prasad, Eco-friendly flame-retardant treatments for cellulosic green building materials, Indoor and Built Environment 24(3) (2015), 422-432.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X13516655.
[24] Rhoda Afriyie Mensah, Vigneshwaran Shanmugam, Sreenivasan Narayanan, Juliana Sally Renner, Karthik Babu, Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany, Michael Försth, Gabriel Sas and Oisik Das, A review of sustainable and environment-friendly flame retardants used in plastics, Polymer Testing 108 (2022), 107511.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2022.107511.
[25] B.-W. Liu, H.-B. Zhao and Y.-Z. Wang, Advanced flame-retardant methods for polymeric materials, Adv. Mater. 34 (2022), 2107905.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202107905.
[26] Yun Liu, Cheng-Liang Deng, Jing Zhao, Jun-Sheng Wang, Li Chen and Yu-Zhong Wang, An efficiently halogen-free flame-retardant long-glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene system, Polymer Degradation and Stability 96(3) (2011), 363-370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.02.033.
[27] C. Ling and L. Guo, A novel, eco-friendly and durable flame-retardant cotton-based hyperbranched polyester derivative, Cellulose 27 (2020), 2357-2368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02923-x.