Nitrogen‐Based Flame Retardants

Nitrogen-based flame retardants cover a wide range of vapor-phase and condensed phase mechanisms of flame retardant activity which is depending upon the specific chemistry of the flame retardant, as well as the chemistry of the polymer that the flame retardant is added into. Nitrogen based flame retardants are very often used as synergists for phosphorus based flame retardants but are also effective alone and should be treated as a separate class of flame retardants. This chapter describes nitrogen based flame retardants and their use and application in different polymer systems. Besides commonly known ammonium and melamine based flame retardants, special members of this family are N-alkoxy hindered amines, azoalkanes, and phosphorus-nitrogen compounds such as phosphazenes, phospham, and other P-N compounds. Recently polymeric nitrogen compounds based on cyanuric acid have been developed and will be discussed as well.