Mineral By-Products as Active Components in Flame Retardant Systems for Polymers and Composites

Dear Colleagues,

The development of a circular economy for plastics and composites requires the reduction in the environmental impact of their additives. In particular, flame retardants (FRs) have been a concern for a long time due to their wide use of hazardous substances and particularly some persistent organic pollutants. Beyond their substitution by other less problematic synthetic compounds such as the most part of phosphorous FRs and various hydrated minerals, the objective of reducing their environmental footprint could be achieved by using non-conventional FR components such as agricultural waste or mineral by-products. Although these components may not alone be able to exhibit a significant flame-retardant activity, they could generate complementary or even synergistic effects on fire performance when combined with usual flame retardants or integrated into innovative FR systems. Their different identified modes of action are poly acids in intumescent systems, reactive compounds with FRs, and compounds able to dilute the gas phase during combustion or to generate barrier effects for the diffusion of combustible volatile gases. Consequently, the use of mineral by-products would allow the amount of synthetic FRs to be reduced without damaging other functional properties, such as mechanical ones. This Special Issue is devoted to the design of original FR systems based on mineral by-products, including industrial waste of interest, as well as their implementation in polymers and composites. Special attention will be given to their global level of performance as well as their durability and environmental footprint.

Prof. Dr. José-Marie Lopez-Cuesta
Dr. Marcos Batistella
Guest Editors

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• by-product
• mineral
• flame retardant
• polymer
• composite