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

聚烯烃是一种烃基聚合物材料，通常用作电气工业中的可收缩附件，如电缆材料。聚烯烃在火灾中容易导致火灾蔓延和气体的产生。传统上，基于卤素的阻燃剂（FR）在化学上干扰燃烧期间气相中的自由基链机理。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质竞争，因此将产热速率减慢到不能维持进一步燃烧的水平。然而，一些研究得出结论，卤素基阻燃剂会产生有毒气体和酸性烟雾，并且在垃圾填埋场中具有持久性。由于全球致力减少卤化阻燃剂的使用，包括加拿大政府环境及气候变化部最近提出有关禁用若干阻燃材料的立法，作为加拿大阻燃热缩管材料的大型供应商，Shawcor的产品阵容正面临严重威胁。这一系列产品必须升级，采用新型、环保、无毒、无浸出和低烟无卤或无卤（LSHF或LSZH）阻燃复合材料。目前可用的非卤阻燃化合物必须以更高的填料填充浓度使用，以实现与卤代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，这有助于减少工业中最终用户对这些材料的吸收。出于安全和监管原因，越来越多的最终用户需要指定非卤化选项，因此从整体性能角度来看，他们被迫接受性能较低的产品。因此，行业有责任开发新型LSHF FR材料，以满足所有要求，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在受到全球禁令的干扰。

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.