Magnesium hydroxide and ATH flame retardants require much higher loadings than halogen-based flame retardants. Jim and Ann Innes of Flame Retardants Associates, Inc. review various flame retardant standards and the amount of metal hydrate needed in specific polymer systems. In addition, changes in compounding techniques and formulation technology are needed to incorporate these flame retardant types into useable products, as well as the use of processing aids and modification of the metal hydrate flame retardant. Martin Marietta Magnesia Specialties has launched extensive research programmes to combine magnesium hydroxide flame retardants into polymers. Jim and Ann Innes present some of the recent results produced.
There are several helpful rules for formulation and compounding when working with metal hydrate flame retardants. The first rule is to build a formulation based on the known characteristics of the metal hydrate. It is critical to remember the flame retardant and filler characteristics to be imparted to the system by the metal hydrate component. The formulation should be developed using basic principles of polymer formulation.