Overview of recent developments in the flame retardancy of polycarbonates

This paper presents an overview of the recent literature on flame retardancy of polycarbonate (PC) and polycarbonate-based resins. A brief survey of the major mechanisms of thermal decomposition of PC is also presented because it gives insight in the mechanisms of flame retardant action. Mostly industrial laboratories are involved in the development of new flame retardants for PC and, to a much lesser extent, academic laboratories are doing research on the mechanistic aspects of flame retardancy. The number of patents published annually on the flame retardancy of PC and its blends significantly exceeds the number of patents on flame retardancy of any other polymer. Because PC is a naturally high charring polymer, the condensed phase active flame retardants, in particular phosphorus-based ones, are widely used in PC-based blends. Plain PC can pass stringent flame retardant tests with very low additions of some sulfur- or silicone-based flame retardants. (c) 2005 Society of Chemical Industry.