Advances in flame retardant poly(lactic acid)

Benjamin Tawiah, Bin Yu, Bin Fei

Research output: Journal article publicationReview articleAcademic researchpeer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

PLA has become a commodity polymer with wide applications in a number of fields. However, its high flammability with the tendency to flow in fire has limited its viability as a perfect replacement for the petrochemically-engineered plastics. Traditional flame retardants, which may be incorporated into PLA without severely degrading the mechanical properties, are the organo-halogen compounds. Meanwhile, these compounds tend to bioaccumulate and pose a risk to flora and fauna due to their restricted use. Research into PLA flame retardants has largely focused on organic and inorganic compounds for the past few years. Meanwhile, the renewed interest in the development of environmentally sustainable flame retardants (FRs) for PLA has increased significantly in a bid to maintain the integrity of the polymer. A review on the development of new flame retardants for PLA is presented herein. The focus is on metal oxides, phosphorus-based systems, 2D and 1D nanomaterials, hyperbranched polymers, and their combinations, which have been applied for flame retarding PLA are discussed. The paper also reviews briefly the correlation between FR loadings and efficiency for various FR systems, and their effects on processing and mechanical properties.

Original languageEnglish
Article number876
JournalPolymers
Volume10
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Aug 2018

Keywords

  • 1D nanomaterials
  • 2D nanomaterials
  • Flame retardants
  • Mechanical properties
  • Metals oxide fillers
  • Phosphorus fillers
  • Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Polymers and Plastics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Advances in flame retardant poly(lactic acid)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this