Development of low smoke zero halogen green polymer compounds for wire and cable industry

聚烯烃是一种碳氢基聚合物材料，通常用于电子工业中的收缩附件作为电缆材料。聚烯烃在有火的情况下，很容易导致火的蔓延和气体的产生。传统上，卤基阻燃剂(FR)在燃烧过程中会对气相中的自由基链机制产生化学干扰。低能卤素化合物，如溴化氢，将在燃烧反应中与高能自由基物种竞争，从而减缓热量产生的速度，使其无法继续燃烧。然而，一些研究已经得出结论，基于卤素的阻燃剂会产生有毒气体和酸性烟雾，并在垃圾填埋场中持久不降解。作为加拿大FR热收缩管材的大型供应商，由于全球努力减少卤化FR的使用，ShawCor的S产品阵容正面临严重威胁。这包括加拿大政府环境和气候变化部最近提出的与禁止某些阻燃材料有关的立法。必须使用一种新型、环保、无毒、零浸出和低烟无卤素或零卤素(LSHF或LSZH)阻燃复合材料来升级这一产品系列。目前可用的非卤化阻燃复合材料必须在更高的填料填充浓度下使用，才能达到与卤化阻燃剂相似的阻燃性能。这导致化合物的机械性能显著降低，从而减少了该行业最终用户对这些材料的吸收。出于安全和监管的原因，越来越多的终端用户被要求指定非卤化选择，因此从整体性能的角度来看，被迫接受性能较低的产品。因此，行业有责任开发能够满足所有要求的新型LSHF FR材料，包括法律、法规和客户应用的要求。这种技术的成功开发将使加拿大在全球市场上处于有利地位，因为现有的市场和供应链正受到全球禁令的扰乱。

Polyolefin is a hydrocarbon based polymeric material and is typically used for shrinkable accessories in electrical industries as cable material. In the presence of fire, polyolefin could easily lead to fire spread and generation of gas. Traditionally, halogen-based FR halogen-based flame retardant (FR) chemically interfere with the radical chain mechanism in the vapor phase during combustion. Low energy halogen compounds such as hydrogen-bromide will compete in the combustion reaction against high energy radical species, therefore slowing down the rate of heat generation to a level that could not sustain further combustion. However, several studies have concluded that halogen-based FR will produce toxic gases and acidic fumes, and persistent against degradation in landfill. As a large supplier of FR heat shrinkable tubing material in Canada, Shawcor' s product lineup is facing a serious threat due to the global efforts to reduce the use of halogenated FR. This includes recently proposed legislation related to the ban of certain FR materials by the Canadian Government Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. This lineup must be upgraded using a novel, environmentally benign, zero-toxic, nil-leaching, and low-smoke halogen-free or zero halogen (LSHF or LSZH) FR composite.Currently available non-halogenated FR compounds must be used in higher filler loading concentrations to achieve similar flame performance as halogenated flame retardants. This leads to significantly reduced mechanical performance of compounds which contributes to reduced uptake of these materials by end users in the industry. Increasingly end users are required to specify non-halogenated options for both safety and regulatory reasons and are therefore being forced to accept lower performing products from a holistic performance perspective. It is therefore incumbent upon the industry to develop novel LSHF FR materials which can meet all requirements including statutory, regulatory and those of customer applications. Successful development of such technology will place Canada in an advantageous position on the global market as the existing market and supply chain is being disrupted by the global ban.