What are Flame Retardant Additives? (Overview)

By: Jim & Anne Innes Since this is our very first blog, we will present an overview here on the topic of flame retardants as used today in polymers or plastics. Flame retardants are chemical compounds (and there are lots of them covering a broad range of chemistries, each different from the next) either added …

Over 21 years of PVC Smoke Suppressant success.

MAT offers a full line of proven smoke suppressants (SS) for a applications where smoke reduction is required. These products have provided smoke suppressant effectiveness to the high performance PVC market for over 21 years.   APPLICATION EXAMPLES   A key comparison here in addition to the improved ASTM E662 smoke performance is the lower …

Maxfil lowers viscosity, increases filler loading for increased flame retardance

Maxfil is a series of engineered alumina trihydrate (ATH) flame retardant fillers created for maximum filler loadings, extremely low viscosities, increased flame retardance and decreased formulation costs. Using Maxfil MX100, MX104 or MX200 can achieve better glass wet-out, help reduce shrinkage and warpage, while also increasing the ability to achieve UL 94-VO, UL94 5VA and ASTM …

How to Fight the High Price of Antimony Trioxide

Are there substitutes for Antimony Trioxide (AO) in PVC and other halogen-containing plastics? The uniqueness of AO is its ability to react to form powerful volatile flame inhibitory antimony trichloride or tribromide. So, if the formulation contains considerable flammable volatile material like typical PVC plasticizers, it is hard to totally dispense with AO. Zinc stannates …