Abstract
In order to reduce fire risk, flame retardant polymer materials have been required. Flame retardant epoxy resins also have been demanded, and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) has been used as a flame retardant. However, the use of halogen-containing flame retardants is concerned to cause the generation of halogenated dioxins during combustion. Hence, alternative halogen-free flame retardants to TBBPA have been required. Phosphorus-containing compounds have been most actively studied and actually used as the halogen-free flame retardant. This review focuses on phosphorous-based flame retardants for epoxy resins, and discusses the flame retardancy of commercially available flame retardants and recently developed flame retardants. In addition, we discuss on flame retardant mechanism for epoxy resin with phosphorous-based flame retardant.
