Flame retardant achieves safety rating with low loading

摘要

Inorganic materials specialist Applied NanoWorks (ANW) has developed FlexB™, a boron-based, non-halogenated flame retardant (FR) additive for nylon and epoxies. According to the company, testing of the material has achieved Underwriters Laboratories UL-94 V-0 ratings with FlexB loading levels as low as 3 %. Engineering plastics used in automotive and electrical applications often have to meet UL-94 V-0 flammability ratings, but many current FR additives require loading levels as high as 20-30% to meet this standard, which can impact the processability, rheology and mechanical properties of the material, ANW says.