TY - JOUR A1 - Markwart, Jens C. A1 - Battig, Alexander A1 - Zimmermann, Lisa A1 - Wagner, Martin A1 - Fischer, Jochen A1 - Schartel, Bernhard A1 - Wurm, Frederik R. T1 - Systematically controlled decomposition mechanism in phosphorus flame retardants by precise molecular architecture: P−O vs P−N JF - ACS Applied Polymer Materials N2 - Flame retardants (FR) are inevitable additives to many plastics. Halogenated organics are effective FRs but are controversially discussed due to the release of toxic gases during a fire or their persistence if landfilled. Phosphorus-containing compounds are effective alternatives to halogenated FRs and have potential lower toxicity and degradability. In addition, nitrogencontaining additives were reported to induce synergistic effects with phosphorus-based FRs. However, no systematic study of the gradual variation on a single phosphorus FR containing both P−O and P−N moieties and their comparison to the respective blends of phosphates and phosphoramides was reported. This study developed general design principles for P−O- and P−N-based FRs and will help to design effective FRs for various polymers. We synthesized a library of phosphorus FRs that only differ in their P-binding pattern from each other and studied their decomposition mechanism in epoxy resins. Systematic control over the decomposition pathways of phosphate (PO(OR)3), phosphoramidate (PO(OR)2(NHR)), phosphorodiamidate (PO(OR)(NHR)2), phosphoramide (PO(NHR)3), and their blends was identified, for example, by reducing cis-elimination and the formation of P−N-rich char with increasing nitrogen content in the P-binding sphere. Our FR epoxy resins can compete with commercial FRs in most cases, but we proved that the blending of esters and amides outperformed the single molecule amidates/diamidates due to distinctively different decomposition mechanisms acting synergistically when blended. KW - Phosphorus KW - Flame retardants KW - Epoxies KW - Mechanistic study KW - Toxicity PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-481549 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.9b00129 SN - 2637-6105 VL - 1 IS - 5 SP - 1118 EP - 1128 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-48154 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -