Combustion and fire retardancy of aliphatic nylons

The overview of the literature for a 25‐year period on the combustion and fire‐retardant performance of major commercial aliphatic nylons is presented. It is shown that aliphatic nylons are relatively easily ignitable materials which support combustion and are therefore required to be fire retarded for some applications. Nylons do not produce vision‐obscuring smoke during combustion, and the toxicity of their combustion products is similar to or lower than that of many other man‐made materials. Patent literature and technical publications on the fire retardancy of aliphatic nylons with halogenated products, phosphorus‐containing compounds, nitrogen‐rich compounds, sulfur‐containing, boron‐containing and silicon‐containing products are discussed. Miscellaneous inorganic additives and char‐forming organic products are also discussed. It is concluded that, in spite of significant attempts, no commercial solution of fire retardancy of aliphatic nylons without loss of mechanical properties is available. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry