Plastics are increasingly widely used in various fields of production and life, but at the same time, fires caused by the flammability of plastics have also brought casualties and economic losses. Therefore, since the 1960s, some developed countries have begun to produce and apply flame-retardant plastics. In the 1970s, the consumption and variety of foreign flame retardants grew rapidly, with an annual growth rate of 6% to 8%. At present, the consumption of flame retardants has jumped to the second place among plastic additives, becoming the largest variety after plasticizers. The American Business Communications Company (BCC) predicts that the annual growth rate of flame retardants is 5.2%.
The research on flame retardants in my country started late. In 1985. there were only more than 40 varieties of flame retardants in China. The output was about 5.000 tons, which was only one-tenth of the annual output of flame retardants in the United States. But by 1998. the annual output of domestic flame retardants had reached more than 70.000 tons, and the annual demand reached more than 90.000 tons in 200.
Among the flame retardants in my country, chlorine accounts for 69%, and inorganic systems account for only about 17%, of which half are antimony dioxide, while aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide account for less than 10%, and halogen accounts for about 80% of the entire flame retardant. At present, foreign flame retardants are mainly inorganic systems, accounting for 50% to 60% of the total, and the main varieties are aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide.
The research on flame retardants in my country started late. Although it has achieved great development, there is still a certain gap in output and variety structure compared with advanced countries. At present, the focus of domestic research and development is concentrated in the fields of inorganic flame retardants, red phosphorus microencapsulation, and intumescent flame retardants, and certain results have been achieved. Halogen-free, high-efficiency, low-smoke, and low-toxic new flame retardants are the development direction of flame retardants today.
