Most organic polymeric materials have high flammability, for which the large amounts of smoke, toxic gases, heat, and melt drips produced during their burning cause immeasurable damages to human life and property every year. Despite some desirable results having been achieved by conventional flame-retardant methods, their application is encountering more and more difficulties with the ever-increasing high flame-retardant requirements such as high flame-retardant efficiency, great persistence, low release of heat, smoke, and toxic gases, and more importantly not deteriorating or even enhancing the overall properties of polymers. Under such condition, some advanced flame-retardant methods have been developed in the past years based on “all-in-one” intumescence, nanotechnology, in situ reinforcement, intrinsic char formation, plasma treatment, biomimetic coatings, etc., which have provided potential solutions to the dilemma of conventional flame-retardant methods. This review briefly outlines the development, application, and problems of conventional flame-retardant methods, including bulk-additive, bulk-copolymerization, and surface treatment, and focuses on the raise, development, and potential application of advanced flame-retardant methods. The future development of flame-retardant methods is further discussed. 

Advanced Flame‐Retardant Methods for Polymeric Materials

Silicone/graphene oxide co-cross-linked aerogels with wide-temperature mechanical flexibility, super-hydrophobicity and flame resistance for exceptional thermal insulation and oil/water separation

A green, durable and effective flame-retardant coating for expandable polystyrene foams

Silica aerogel features super thermal insulating and excellent sound absorption. Although the application of silica aerogel in building materials for energy saving has been investigated recently, the role of aerogel particle size on geopolymer foam render can be crucial but is rarely studied. In this research, four kinds of silica aerogel with different particle sizes (2–40 μm, 100–700 μm, 100–1200 μm, 700–4000 μm) are applied in geopolymer foam aerogel render (GFAR) to improve the thermal insulation and acoustic absorption performance. Results show that larger silica aerogel particles are more beneficial for acoustic absorption and thermal insulation while smaller aerogel particles are less effective for insulation properties. The microstructure of GFAR is investigated in-depth with micro-CT, optical microscopy and ultrasonic pulse velocity test. The mechanism of the improved performance of GFAR with different silica aerogel is explained. The optimal geopolymer foam aerogel render (GFAR) reaches a thermal conductivity of 0.133 W/(m·K), an average value of acoustic absorption coefficient of 0.51 with a density of 715.2 kg/m3. The result of this study is essential to enlighten the use of larger silica aerogel particles in geopolymer foam render, focusing on a low dosage of silica aerogel while utilize its full benefit. 

Effect of silica aerogel on thermal insulation and acoustic absorption of geopolymer foam composites: The role of aerogel particle size

High‐performance thermal insulating aerogels are attractive candidates for thermal protection in extreme environments. However, inorganic aerogels’ brittleness and poor machinability limit their applications, while organic aerogels suffer from severe strength degradation and structural collapse at high temperatures. Herein, for the first time, a thermo‐responsive self‐ceramifiable aerogel is demonstrated with exceptional strengthening and thermal insulation at high temperatures. This aerogel exhibits excellent toughness and processability like polymers under normal conditions but spontaneously transforms into high‐strength semi‐crystalline hard ceramics upon exposure to high temperatures. After prolonged thermal attack at 800 °C, the strength of the aerogels does not decrease but significantly increases several‐fold (from 0.739 to 2.726 MPa). The self‐ceramization behavior and mechanism of the aerogel are illustrated in detail. The unique self‐ceramifiable capacity enables aerogels to provide fire resistance, high‐strength support, and excellent thermal insulation at ultrahigh temperatures. Even with continuous burning at 1300 °C for 60 min, the 15 mm thick aerogel shows low backside temperature below 300 °C, crack‐free overall structure, and invariant porous morphology. This self‐ceramifiable aerogel opens up a new avenue for developing thermal‐protection materials with toughness, machinability, high strength, and thermal insulation in extreme environments.

Thermo‐Responsive Self‐Ceramifiable Robust Aerogel with Exceptional Strengthening and Thermal Insulating Performance at Ultrahigh Temperatures

Biomass-derived aerogels have received extensive attention as potential thermal management materials for energy-efficient buildings. However, it remains a huge challenge to fabricate a fully bio-based aerogel with excellent mechanical property, flame retardancy, and low thermal conductivity. Herein, we demonstrate a novel and facile strategy to manufacture a fully biomass-based aerogel from naturally abundant ammonium alginate (AL) and phytic acid (PA), in which PA acting as both flame retardant and cross-linking components constructs a strong network with AL matrix. Consequently, the resultant biomass aerogel with a low density of 0.052 g/cm3 exhibits ultrahigh mechanical modulus (25.1 ± 3.1 MPa) and specific modulus (440.4 ± 54.4 MPa cm3·g−1), much superior to those of biomass aerogels ever reported. Due to the existence of the uniform three-dimensional porous network, the biomass aerogels exhibit low thermal conductivity (34–38 mW/m·K) and excellent thermal insulation performances. Further, the introduction of PA endows the aerogel with high flame retardancy (limiting oxygen index value of 57%, UL-94 V-0 rating, and extremely low heat release), while the biodegradability of the materials keeps at a high level with a biodegradation rate of 91.43%. Combining with the advantages of mechanically strong property, high flame retardancy, excellent thermal insulation, and biodegradation, the aerogel of this work provides a new strategy to fabricate thermal insulation materials with high environmental safety.

Fully biomass-based aerogels with ultrahigh mechanical modulus, enhanced flame retardancy, and great thermal insulation applications

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Fully biomass-based aerogels with ultrahigh mechanical modulus, enhanced flame retardancy, and great thermal insulation applications