Combustion and fire retardancy of aliphatic nylons

• Published in: Polymer International Vol. 49; no. 10; pp. 1033 - 1073
• Main Authors: Levchik, Sergei V, Weil, Edward D
• Format: Book Review Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.10.2000; Wiley
• Subjects: aliphatic nylons; Applied sciences; combustion; Exact sciences and technology; fire retardancy; gases toxicity; ignition; Organic polymers; Physicochemistry of polymers; Polymers with particular properties; Preparation, kinetics, thermodynamics, mechanism and catalysts; Toxic gas; Nylon; Ignition; Thermooxidative degradation; Flame retardant; Combustion; Review; Bromine compound; Thermal properties; Chlorine compounds; Additive; Smoke emission; Aliphatic polymer; Phosphorus compound; Halogen containing polymer
• ISSN: 0959-8103; 1097-0126
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0126(200010)49:10<1033::AID-PI518>3.0.CO;2-I

The overview of the literature for a 25‐year period on the combustion and fire‐retardant performance of major commercial aliphatic nylons is presented. It is shown that aliphatic nylons are relatively easily ignitable materials which support combustion and are therefore required to be fire retarded for some applications. Nylons do not produce vision‐obscuring smoke during combustion, and the toxicity of their combustion products is similar to or lower than that of many other man‐made materials. Patent literature and technical publications on the fire retardancy of aliphatic nylons with halogenated products, phosphorus‐containing compounds, nitrogen‐rich compounds, sulfur‐containing, boron‐containing and silicon‐containing products are discussed. Miscellaneous inorganic additives and char‐forming organic products are also discussed. It is concluded that, in spite of significant attempts, no commercial solution of fire retardancy of aliphatic nylons without loss of mechanical properties is available. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry