The future market of inorganic flame retardants in China has great potential for development
- time:
- 2019-05-13
As for flame retardants, halogen-based flame retardants are still the most popular ones in China, including chlorine-based flame retardants and bromine-based flame retardants. Halogen flame retardants can produce toxic smoke when heated, so their use is restricted in European and American countries. Zhang Fang believes that the primary direction of development of halogen-free flame retardants in China is inorganic flame retardants, the main varieties are nano-aluminium hydroxide and nano-magnesium hydroxide flame retardants. Inorganic flame retardants account for more than half of the total amount of flame retardants in developed countries. Aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide flame retardants are safe and environmentally friendly, but the miscibility between inorganic and organic matters is poor. Adding inorganic substances in large quantities can easily reduce the mechanical properties of plastic products. There are two solutions: one is superfine or even nano-sized inorganic flame retardants; the other is to coat organic matter on the surface to improve the compatibility. Nano-inorganic flame retardant has been industrialized as a national 863 key project and has the conditions for accelerated development. At present, China only uses inorganic flame retardant compulsorily in cable industry, and the market space of inorganic flame retardant will be huge in the future.
Organophosphorus flame retardants have low smoke and toxicity, and are also important substitutes for halogen flame retardants. China is a big country of phosphorus resources. Developing phosphorus-based flame retardants has resource advantages. In 2012, Yabao Company of the United States announced that it would withdraw from the field of production of organic phosphorus flame retardants, which provided more market space for the export of organic phosphorus-based flame retardants in China.
Thermal stabilizer is the main additive used in the processing of polyvinyl chloride products, which is used to improve the thermal stability of polyvinyl chloride products. The traditional thermal stabilizer is lead-containing thermal stabilizer. Because of the toxicity of lead, European and American countries are rapidly reducing the use of lead-containing thermal stabilizer. Some European countries have stipulated that the use of lead-containing thermal stabilizer should be completely stopped by 2015. Although there is no mandatory phase-out period, China encourages the development of lead-free heat stabilizers and speeds up the replacement process.
Zhang Fang believes that the key development varieties of lead-free heat stabilizers are rare earth heat stabilizers, organotin heat stabilizers and calcium-zinc composite heat stabilizers. Chinese enterprises have taken the lead in the industrialization of rare earth heat stabilizers in the world. Rare earth elements are mainly lanthanum and cerium rare earth compounds. They are safe, hygienic and non-radioactive. They have been used in the production of export plastic toys for many years and enjoy considerable popularity in the international market. China has the advantage of rare earth resources. Rare earth thermal stabilizers should be taken as the development direction of lead-free thermal stabilizers in China.
Composite heat stabilizers can synthesize the characteristics of many kinds of heat stabilizers. Among them, calcium-zinc heat stabilizers are non-toxic and harmless. They are mainly used in plastic products for food packaging and fresh-keeping film products. However, their thermal stability is not ideal. In order to be popularized in a wider range, they need to be used in conjunction with other heat stabilizers. Organotin heat stabilizer is the leading variety in European and American countries. It has good comprehensive performance, but its price is relatively high. There is also great room for development in China in the future.
Zhang Fang, assistant president of the Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning, was interviewed by the reporter recently. He learned that China has become a global producer and consumer of plastic additives. However, according to European and American national standards, 80% to 90% of plastic additives in China are not qualified at present. There is an urgent need for renewal and replacement. It is necessary to accelerate the development of environmentally friendly plastic additives. The development focus is on non-toxic plasticizers, halogen-free flame retardants and flame retardants. Lead-free heat stabilizer.
Zhang Fang pointed out that at present, the main plasticizers used in China are phthalate ester plasticizers (DOP, DEHP, DBP), which have long been banned in plastic toys abroad. China has also banned the use of such plasticizers in preservative films for packaged cooked food and meat. In 2012, the domestic liquor plasticizer storm had an impact on liquor production. The final reason was that liquor production equipment was connected with plastic pipes, and phthalate plasticizers were used in liquor production. Renewable non-toxic plasticizers ** are non-phthalate plasticizers, among which the main ones are citrate plasticizers, and the leading products are tributyl citrate and trioctyl citrate. The production of citric acid in China is huge, and the development of citrate plasticizers has the advantage of raw materials. In addition, long carbon chain dinonyl phthalate and didecanol phthalate are considered to be safe substitutes for DOP, DEHP and DBP with shorter carbon chain, and can promote the development of isononyl alcohol and 2-propyl heptanol.