Bio-Based Materials as Flame Retardants for Polymers: Synthesis and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

The use of polymeric materials has grown over the past century to the point where it dominates the fields of building materials, electronic devices, transportation, consumer and industrial goods. With the growing reliance on electrical and electronic devices, as well as growing demands for increasing energy density within these devices, a critical safety issue is created: the overlap of highly flammable organic materials with effective ignition sources. Flame retardants have been incorporated into many of these polymeric systems, but being highly dependent upon use of halogenated organic, and of phosphorous-based molecules, toxicity issues have been raised that compete with reduced flammabilities in protecting the public.

This Special Issue, entitled “Bio-Based Flame Retardants for Polymer Applications”, is devoted to the dissemination of high-quality original research articles and comprehensive reviews on cutting-edge developments in this interdisciplinary field. Bio-based additives offer one approach to the use of reduced toxicity flame retardants that, nonetheless, afford high levels of flammability protection to the public. This duality of low toxicity/high flame retardation is required for the coming generations of consumer and industrial products.

With a focus on bio-based flame retardants (FRs), potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Application of bio-based FRs in polymer matrixes;
• Derivatization and incorporation of bio-based FRs;
• Bio-based FR coatings for polymer substrates;
• Mechanism of flame retardation by bio-based additives;
• Synergy between bio-based and other organic and/or inorganic FR agents;
• Processing and performance of bio-based FRs in polymeric materials;
• Toxicology/epidemiology of bio-based FR additives.

Prof. Dr. David Schiraldi
Dr. Erik Price
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• polymer-based materials
• bio-based polymeric materials
• flame retardation
• mechanism
• blends
• composites
• coatings
• biodegradability
• toxicology
• epidemiology