Flame retardants, such as inorganic fillers or halogenated resins, are incorporated into composites either as additives or reactive materials. In order to improve processability and mechanical properties, as well as reduce smoke toxicity, a method is being developed to introduce highly effective, inexpensive flame retardant materials into thermoset resins. Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) can be loaded with inexpensive inorganic phosphates as the flame retardant component in composite systems. The resulting SAP flame retardants dramatically improved fire resistance when blended with common matrix resins (epoxy, unsaturated polyester, urethane hybrid, and vinyl ester resins) at relatively low levels with very minimal off-gassing of toxic compounds during combustion.
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