Phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy thermosets: Recent advances and future perspectives

Their pervasive use in industrial applications renders the development of environmentally benign flame-retardant epoxy (EP) thermosets a timely and important goal. The last two decades have witnessed the rise of phosphorus (P)-containing flame retardants for EP due to their high flame retardancy efficiency, low toxicity, multiple modes of action, molecular diversity and other favorable properties. P-containing flame retardants are classified into two types: reactive and additive, according to whether they participate in the curing process. Recent advances in both of these classes of P-containing flame retardants motivate this comprehensive review on the design and synthesis of P-containing flame retardants and their impact on the material properties of EP thermosets. This review focuses on the state-of-the-art knowledge of P-containing flame retardants and their effects on flame retardancy, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the resultant EP. First, representative flame-retardant mechanisms are reviewed. Subsequently, practical applications of P-containing flame-retardant EP thermosets are presented. Finally, the key challenges associated with P-containing flame retardants for EP thermosets are highlighted, and opportunities for future research in the field are proposed.