Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
The Decomposition of Polyurethane and Fire Retardants: A Review
Version 1
: Received: 24 November 2023 / Approved: 27 November 2023 / Online: 27 November 2023 (04:40:09 CET)
How to cite: Peck, G. The Decomposition of Polyurethane and Fire Retardants: A Review. Preprints 2023, 2023111646. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.1646.v1 Peck, G. The Decomposition of Polyurethane and Fire Retardants: A Review. Preprints 2023, 2023111646. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.1646.v1
Abstract
Polyurethane is used extensively in the furniture industry, primarily in beds and sofas. There is a significant volume of research pertaining to the flammability of polyurethane materials, but very little regarding smoke toxicity. Given toxic fire effluents are a primary cause of injury and fatalities, more work needs to be done to test the toxicity of polyurethane materials and the fire retardants they are coated/bound with. The aim of the review is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the decomposition of polyurethane and discuss the development and application of modern fire retardants and their effect on smoke toxicity. This work then provides discussion on the challenges faced when attempting to quantify the toxicity of the effluent produced during combustion. Future work should aim to reduce the toxicity and flammability of polyurethane simultaneously by; reducing the pyrolysis of the polymer, preventing the escape of volatile products, reducing radicals within the system and lowering the temperature of the system. Before this can be achieved, a better understanding of smoke toxicity and the ability to test materials is needed.
Keywords
polyurethane; fire retardants; review; decomposition; smoke toxicity
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Physical Chemistry
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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