Synthesis and performance of cyclic phosphorus-containing flame retardants

A series of organo-cyclic phosphorus compounds were synthesized in an attempt to find an efficient flame retardant (FR) for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS). The success of synthesis was confirmed by 1H and 31P NMR. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results reveal that cyclic phosphorus compounds synthesized in this study show almost one step degradation between 250 and 400 °C and are believed to work in the vapour phase rather than in the condensed phase. From UL-94 test, V-0 rating was achieved at 15-35 wt% loading of cyclic or cyclic alkyl phosphonate FR and no rating at 35 wt% loading of cyclic phosphate for ABS. On the other hand, a much lower loading (7.5%) was needed to obtain V-0 rating for polycarbonate when 3,9-diphenyl-3,9-dioxa-2,4,8,10-tetraoxa-3,9-diphosphaspiro-5,5-undecane (PBPP) was added as FR. All the results show that the flame retarding effect is strongly dependent on the P content of the FR incorporated. The flame retardant mechanism of cyclic phosphorus compounds is also discussed.