NANOFRABS “Halogen free flame retardant ABS nanocomposites for electric and electronic devices”

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives discouraged the use of halogenated flame retardants in electric and electronic devices. For this reason, effective non halogenated alternatives have to be developed. NANOFRABS project aims, developing new halogen free flame retardant (HFFR) for ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) compounds, which are widely used in the electric appliances sector, with good impact and fire properties.

The focus is to develop a new more effective flame retardant for ABS, based on an intumescent formulation, by means of incorporation of nanofillers, enhancing both fire retardancy and mechanical properties. This will lead to the formation of a thermally and mechanically reinforced intumescent charred layer in event of fire as well as a mechanical reinforcement during the life of the product.

In order to reach these improvements, nanofillers will be combined with phosphorous-based flame retardants, either a) by Physical Combination of flame retardants and nanofillers in proper mixtures (PC), b) by Chemical Combination of nanofillers with flame retardants (CC) or c) by Physical Combination of Chemical functionalized lamellas and flame retardants (PCC) to be dispersed in the polymer by melt blending or melt reactive blending.

Physical combination

 PC

Chemical combination

CC

Physical combination of chemical functionalized lamellas

PCC
Synergistic systems formed by  commercial available nanofiller and traditional FRs Traditional FRs are functionalized inside the interlayer region of lamellar solids nanoparticles Synergistic systems formed by  traditional FRs  in combination with lamellar solids nanoparticles

NANOFRABS project, supported by the European Commission FP7 program (FP7-SME-2011, GA nº 284838), includes four SMEs and 2 RTD’s:

  • PROLABIN, www.prolabintefarm.com, specialised in synthesis and functionalization of LDH and ZrP
  • MASTERBATCH, www.masterbatch.it, preparation of fire retardant masterbatches for polymers.
  • SITRAPLAS, www.sitraplas.com, specialised in ABS, PC/ABS compounds.
  • DASYC, www.dasyc.gr, Electric and Electronic devices fabricant.
  • POLITO, www.polito.it, nanofiller characterization, ABS compounds preparation and characterization
  • TECNALIA, www.tecnalia.com, MMT functionalization, fire test characterization, recycling study and project coordination