Fire and Polymers VI

There is always the possibility that a material may catch fire, potentially leading to the loss of property and, on occasion, life. Fire risk is not a new problem but, as new polymeric materials are developed and used, the potential for fire risk may increase. There are huge benefits to these new polymeric materials, including weight savings and resource (energy, durability) economy. In order to protect these materials against fire, there is a real need for
effective fire retardants. Fire retardants are a large section of the world-wide polymer economy and the need continues to grow as more polymers are used in more applications where fire risk is present. Due to
this ever-increasing need, as well as due to new regulations, there is a clear need for a peer-reviewed book delineating the latest advances infire retardant chemistry and approaches to the study of fire and polymers. A symposium was held at the 243rd American Chemical Society Meeting,held in San Diego, CA, in March of 2012. This symposium featured 59 presentations which covered the complete range of fire retardant activity, regulations, and material flammability testing.
U.S. and international speakers were well represented, showing the global nature of this research field. This was the sixth symposium in a series dating back to 1989. From these presentations,
atotal of 32 were selected for inclusion in this book.