TY - JOUR A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Lorenz, Edelgard A1 - Weimann, Christiane A1 - Sturm, Heinz A1 - Karimov, I. A1 - Ettl, J. A1 - Meier, R. A1 - Wohlgemuth, W. A. A1 - Berger, H. A1 - Wildgruber, M. T1 - Mechanic and surface properties of central-venous port catheters after removal: A comparison of polyurethane and Silicon rubber materials N2 - Central venous port devices made of two different polymeric materials, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)and silicone rubber (SiR), were compared due their material properties. Both naïve catheters as well as catheters after removal from patients were investigated. In lab experiments the influence of various chemo-therapeutic solutions on material properties was investigated, where as the samples after removal were compared according to the implanted time inpatient. The macroscopic,mechanical performance was assessed with dynamic, specially adapted tests for elasticity. The degradation status of the materials was determined with common tools of polymer characterisation, such as infrared spectroscopy, molecular weight measurements and various methods of thermal analysis. The surface morphology was an alysed using scanning electron microscopy. A correlation between material properties and clinical performance was proposed. The surface morphology and chemical composition of the polyurethane catheter materials can potentially result in increased susceptibility of the catheter to bloodstream infections and thrombotic complications. The higher mechanic failure,especially with increasing implantation time of the silicone catheters is related to the lower mechanical performance compared to the polyurethane material as well as loss of barium sulphate filler particles near the surface of the catheter. This results in preformed microscopic notches, which act as predetermined sites of fracture. KW - Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) KW - Silicone rubber (SiR) KW - Catheters KW - Central venous access port KW - Complication KW - Structure propertyrelationship KW - Mechanical testing PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.08.002 SN - 1751-6161 SN - 1878-0180 VL - 64 SP - 281 EP - 291 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-37178 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Naumann, Annette A1 - Seefeldt, Henrik A1 - Stephan, Ina A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Noll, Matthias T1 - Material resistance of flame retarded wood-plastic composites against fire and fungal decay N2 - Flame retarded wood-plastic composites (WPCs) should allow safe application in areas of fire risk. Halogen-free flame retardants can contain high amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus or sulphur, which may serve as nutrition source for wood degrading fungi and accelerate wood decay. Therefore, the material resistance of WPCs with each of four flame retardants against both fire or fungal decay was examined in comparison to WPC without flame retardant. Expandable graphite showed the best performance against fire in cone calorimetry and radiant panel testing. Two ammonium polyphosphates and a third nitrogen-containing flame retardant were not as effective. Contrary to the possibility that flame retardants might enhance fungal decay of WPC, the opposite effect occurred in case of the wood-degrading fungi Trametes versicolor and Coniophora puteana according to determination of mass loss and decrease of bending modulus of elasticity. Only the surface mould Alternaria alternata slightly increased the degradation of WPCs with nitrogen-containing flame retardants compared to WPC without flame retardant according to mass loss data and FTIR-ATR analyses. Finally, WPC including expandable graphite as flame retardant was effective against both fire and fungal decay. KW - Wood-plastic composite (WPC) KW - Flame retardants KW - Fire behaviour KW - Fungal decay KW - Fourier transform infrared - attenuated total reflexion (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy KW - Microscopy PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2012.03.031 SN - 0141-3910 SN - 1873-2321 VL - 97 IS - 7 SP - 1189 EP - 1196 PB - Applied Science Publ. CY - London AN - OPUS4-26058 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - Kunststoffe in der Umwelt: Elastomere, Thermoplaste und Duroplaste – worüber sprechen wir eigentlich und was sind die analytischen Herausforderungen? N2 - Übersichtsvortrag zur Thematik Kunststoffe in der Umwelt. Es werden Aspekte zu Definitionen, Eigenschaften und Analytischen Möglichkeiten und Herrausforderungen angesprochen. T2 - Arbeitsgespräch der Ressortforschungseinrichtungen CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 26.11.2018 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Umwelt KW - Polymere Eigenschaften PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-47183 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Stark, Wolfgang A1 - Teteris, Gundars A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Bohmeyer, W. A1 - Lange, K. T1 - Kontrolle der Vernetzungsreaktion bei reaktiven Harzen - DSC, Rheologie, DMA, FTIR und Online-Ultraschall im Vergleich N2 - Faserverbundbauteile werden durch Tränkung von Fasergewebe mit flüssigem Harz, in der Regel Epoxidharzen, und anschließender Härtung des Harzes gefertigt. Dabei kann man das Gewebe im Vorfeld mit reaktivem Harz tränken und als so genanntes Prepreg verarbeiten oder man injiziert das frisch mit dem Härter gemischte Harz in ein Werkzeug, in dem das Gewebe bereits liegt - z. B. beim RTM-Prozess. Ausgehend von der Aufgabenstellung, eine Prepregherstellung mit hohem Qualitätsstandard zu realisieren und Möglichkeiten der Fertigungskontrolle für den Prepreg-Verarbeiter aufzuzeigen, wurde an einem für die Prepregherstellung vorgesehenen Harzsystem eine weitgehende Charakterisierung des Aushärtungsverlaufs vorgenommen. Wegen der Schwierigkeit, schnell konstante Aushärtungstemperaturen zu erreichen, wurden bei allen Methoden mit einer Heizrate von 1 K/min von RT bis 200 °C aufgeheizt. T2 - Technomer 2011 - 22. Fachtagung über Verarbeitung und Anwendung von Polymeren CY - Chemnitz, Deutschland DA - 10.11.2011 KW - Thermoanalyse KW - Lineare Aufheizung KW - Online Prozesskontrolle KW - Epoxidharz KW - Prepreg PY - 2011 SN - 978-3-939382-10-2 IS - Kap. 1.1 SP - 1 EP - 9 AN - OPUS4-24910 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lörchner, Dominique A1 - Dittmann, Daniel A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Kroh, L. W. A1 - Köppen, Robert T1 - Investigation of two triazine-based heterocyclic brominated flame retardants by coupled thermogravimetry-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy N2 - In this study, the thermal decomposition of 1,3,5-tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-trione (TDBPTAZTO) and 2,4,6-tris-(2,4,6-tribromo-phenoxy)-1,3,5-triazine (TTBP-TAZ) were investigated for the first time by thermogravimetric analysis. Both compounds were thermal degraded between 225 and 350 °C (TDBP-TAZTO) as well as 300 and 400 °C (TTBP-TAZ). As a result, mass loss (%) of 98.5% for TTBP-TAZ and 95.4% for TDBP-TAZTO at 600 °C under N2 were observed. The major pyrolytic degradation products of TTBP-TAZ were formed in a single step and identified by FTIR analysis as 2,4,6-tribromophenol and further bromine-substituted aromatic compounds. In comparison, TDBP-TAZTO was pyrolytic degraded in two steps, whereby on the first step the release of hydrogen Bromide and 1,3,5-triallyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-trione could be detected. In the second minor step, isocyanic acid could be additionally identified. Subsequently, the obtained products of the TGA-FTIR measurements were used for a targeted search for mass fragments in mass spectrometry measurements. For TTBP-TAZ, only the degradation product 1,3,5-tribromobenzene could be detected by MS/MS analyzes. No comparable thermal degradation products, except hydrogen bromide, were observed in the MS/MS spectra of TDBP-TAZTO. Therefore, the search of further mass fragments was not possible compared to the findings of the TGA-FTIR measurements. KW - Pyrolysis KW - Thermal decomposition KW - TGA-FTIR KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2019.104635 VL - 141 SP - 104635-1 EP - 104635-5 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-48506 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Lorenz, Edelgard A1 - Maskos, Michael T1 - Investigation of the durability of poly(ether urethane) in water and air N2 - In this study some relevant aspects of the durability of an aromatic poly(ether urethanes) was investigated. Hydrolytic and oxidative treatments at increased temperatures were applied. The induced changes in the materials under investigation were characterised by complementary polymer characterisation methods, such as ATR-FTIR, DSC and mechanical testing. The thermal and hydrolytic treatment did not significantly affect the chemical composition of the materials. Changes can be observed in the microstructure of the materials. PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.5301/IJAO.2011.6408 SN - 0391-3988 VL - 34 IS - 2 SP - 129 EP - 133 PB - Wichtig Ed. CY - Milano [u.a.] AN - OPUS4-23729 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Teteris, G. A1 - Stark, W. T1 - Investigation of the curing state of ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) for photovoltaic applications by gel content determination, rheology, DSC and FTIR N2 - The cure behaviour of a specific ethylene vinyl acetate material as used for encapsulation of photovoltaic modules was analysed by rheometer, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to test for a suitable replacement for the laborious determination of gel content. The results show that all applied methods are capable of describing the effects of the cross-linking process. Some provide results very similar to those yielded by analysis of the insoluble content, but the question remains as to whether indirect methods should be preferred over the direct measurement of physical properties, e.g. as performed by the curemeter. A material stored for one year was also tested to demonstrate the effect of extended storage on cure behaviour and how this is detected by different methods. This complements the other methods, which were clearly able to detect the different cure behaviour of the aged EVA, whereas determination of the gel content could not. KW - Photovoltaic cell encapsulation KW - EVA KW - Incoming goods control KW - Insoluble content KW - Rheometer PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2016.03.013 SN - 0142-9418 VL - 52 IS - 1 SP - 133 EP - 140 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Oxford, UK AN - OPUS4-35918 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Interaction of Red Phosphorus, Melanine Polyphosphate and Magnesium Hydroxide as Fire Retardant in HIPS T2 - 9th European Meeting on Fire Retardancy and Protection of Materials, FRPM '03 CY - Lille, France DA - 2003-09-17 PY - 2003 AN - OPUS4-4028 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Schartel, Bernhard A1 - Trubiroha, Peter T1 - Influence of weathering on the stability of flame retardancy in polymeric materials for outdoor use T2 - 4th European weathering symposium - Natural and artificial ageing of polymers CY - Budapest, Hungary DA - 2009-09-16 KW - Flame retardancy KW - Weathering KW - Stability KW - Polymeric material KW - Outdoor PY - 2009 SN - 978-3-9810472-8-8 IS - CEEES Publication No. 11 SP - 313 EP - 326 PB - DWS Werbeagentur und Verlag GmbH CY - Karlsruhe AN - OPUS4-20060 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Balabanovich, Aliaksandr A1 - Schartel, Bernhard A1 - Knoll, Uta A1 - Artner, J. A1 - Ciesielski, M. A1 - Döring, M. A1 - Perez, R. A1 - Sandler, J.K.W. A1 - Altstädt, V. A1 - Hoffmann, T. A1 - Pospiech, D. T1 - Influence of the oxidation state of phosphorus on the decomposition and fire behaviour of flame-retarded epoxy resin composites N2 - A systematic and comparative evaluation of the pyrolysis of halogen-free flame-retarded epoxy resins containing phosphine oxide, phosphinate, phosphonate, and phosphate (phosphorus contents around 2.6 wt.%) and the fire behaviour of their carbon fibre composites is presented. Decomposition pathways are proposed based on the thermal analysis (TG), TG coupled with evolved gas analysis (TG-FTIR), kinetics and analysis of the residue with FTIR and XPS. All organophosphorus-modified hardeners containing phenoxy groups lead to a reduced decomposition temperature and mass loss step for the main decomposition of the cured epoxy resin. With increasing oxidation state of the phosphorus the thermally stable residue increases, whereas the release of phosphorus-containing volatiles decreases. The flammability of the composites was investigated with LOI and UL 94 and the fire behaviour for forced-flaming conditions with cone calorimeter tests performed using different irradiations. The flame retardancy mechanisms are discussed. With increasing oxidation state of the phosphorus additional charring is observed, whereas the flame inhibition, which plays the more important role for the performance of the composites, decreases. The processing and the mechanical performance (delamination resistance, flexural properties and interlaminar bonding strength) of the fibre-reinforced composites containing phosphorus were maintained at a high level and, in some cases, even improved. The potential for optimising flame retardancy while maintaining mechanical properties is highlighted in this study. KW - Fire retardant KW - Composites KW - Organophosphorus-containing epoxy resin PY - 2006 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2006.10.022 SN - 0032-3861 SN - 1873-2291 VL - 47 IS - 26 SP - 8495 EP - 8508 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-14054 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Seefeldt, Henrik A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Hofmann-Böllinghaus, Anja T1 - Influence of structure, wood content, moisture and additives on the burning behaviour of wood plastic composites T2 - Fire and materials 2011 - 12th International conference and exhibiton CY - San Francisco, CA, USA DA - 2011-01-31 PY - 2011 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Interscience Communications AN - OPUS4-24650 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Klöckner, P. A1 - Wagner, S. A1 - Ruhl, A.S. A1 - Eisentraut, Paul A1 - Albrecht, M. A1 - Reemtsma, T. T1 - Identification of tire wear particles based on elemental composition N2 - The identification of tire wear particles by use of ICP-MS is presented. T2 - SETAC CY - Rome, Italy DA - 13.05.2018 KW - Microplastics KW - Tire wear particles KW - ICP-MS PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45205 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, Andrea A1 - Wander, Lukas A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Goedecke, Caroline A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - High-throughput NIR spectroscopic (NIRS) detection of microplastics in soil N2 - The increasing pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems with plastic debris leads to the accumulation of microscopic plastic particles of still unknown amount. To monitor the degree of contamination analytical methods are urgently needed, which help to quantify microplastics (MP). Currently, time-costly purified materials enriched on filters are investigated both by micro-infrared spectroscopy and/or micro-Raman. Although yielding precise results, these techniques are time consuming, and are restricted to the analysis of a small part of the sample in the order of few micrograms. To overcome these problems, here we tested a macroscopic dimensioned NIR process-spectroscopic method in combination with chemometrics. For calibration, artificial MP/soil mixtures containing defined ratios of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, and polystyrene with diameters < 125 µm were prepared and measured by a process FT-NIR spectrometer equipped with a fiber optic reflection probe. The resulting spectra were processed by chemometric models including support vector machine regression (SVR), and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Validation of models by MP mixtures, MP-free soils and real-world samples, e.g. and fermenter residue, suggest a reliable detection and a possible classification of MP at levels above 0.5 to 1.0 mass% depending on the polymer. The benefit of the combined NIRS chemometric approach lies in the rapid assessment whether soil contains MP, without any chemical pre-treatment. The method can be used with larger sample volumes and even allows for an online prediction and thus meets the demand of a high-throughput method. KW - Microplastics KW - Soil KW - Chemometrics KW - PLS-DA KW - Support vector machines KW - Near Infrared Spectroscopy PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2180-2 SN - 1614-7499 SN - 0944-1344 VL - 26 IS - 8 SP - 7364 EP - 7374 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-45405 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - Harmonization in microplastics Analysis N2 - The lecture summarizes the current status of hamonization edr microplastics analytics in Germany. T2 - Symposium on Occurrence and Fate of Microplastics CY - Beijing, China DA - 09.07.2019 KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC-MS KW - Harmonisation PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49063 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Bannick, C. G. T1 - Harmonisierung von Untersuchungsverfahren für (Mikro-)Plastik in der Umwelt N2 - Im Rahmen der Thematik "Recycling von Kunststoffen" wird die Thematik "Mikroplastik" vorgestellt T2 - Berliner Recycling- und Rohstoffkonferenz CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 11.03.2019 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Standarisierung KW - Analytik PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-47582 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gallo, Emanuela A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Schartel, Bernhard A1 - Russo, P. A1 - Acierno, Domenico T1 - Halogen-free flame retarded poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) using metal oxides/PBT nanocomposites in combination with aluminium phosphinate N2 - The flame retardancy of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) containing aluminium diethlyphosphinate (AlPi) and/or nanometric metal oxides such as TiO2 or Al2O3 was investigated. In particular the different active flame retardancy mechanisms were discovered. Thermal analysis, evolved gas analysis (TG-FTIR), flammability tests (LOI, UL 94), cone calorimeter measurements and chemical analyses of residues (ATR-FTIR) were used. AlPi acts mainly in the gas phase through the release of diethylphosphic acid, which provides flame inhibition. Part of AlPi remains in the solid phase reacting with the PBT to phosphinate-terephthalate salts that decompose to aluminium phosphate at higher temperatures. The metal oxides interact with the PBT decomposition and promote the formation of additional stable carbonaceous char in the condensed phase. A combination of metal oxides and AlPi gains the better classification in the UL 94 test thanks to the combination of the different mechanisms. KW - Poly(butylene terephthalate) KW - Flammability KW - Metal oxide nanocomposite KW - Metal phosphinate PY - 2009 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2009.04.014 SN - 0141-3910 SN - 1873-2321 VL - 94 IS - 8 SP - 1245 EP - 1253 PB - Applied Science Publ. CY - London AN - OPUS4-19516 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - General aspects of polymers and polymers in environment N2 - The presentation addresses first general aspects of polymers and polymers in environment (definitions, types, phases, morphology, density) and than summarise the possibilities of analysis. T2 - GWRC Workshop on "Microplastics in Water" CY - Nantes, France DA - 22.05.2016 KW - Microplastics KW - Polymers PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-36901 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Dümichen, Erik A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Barthel, Anne-Kathrin A1 - Bannick, Claus Gerhard T1 - General aspects of polymers and and polymers in environment N2 - The presentation addresses first general aspects of polymers and polymers in environment (definitions, types, phases, morphology, density) and than summarise the possibilities of analysis. T2 - 1. meeting of ISO/TC 61/SC 5/AHG "microplastics" CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 12.04.2016 KW - Microplastics KW - Polymers PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-36758 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schartel, Bernhard A1 - Weiß, André A1 - Mohr, F. A1 - Kleemeier, M. A1 - Hartwig, A. A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - Flame retarded epoxy resins by adding layered silicate in combination with the conventional protection-layer-building flame retardants melamine borate and ammonium polyphosphate N2 - The pyrolysis and flammability of phosphonium-modified layered silicate epoxy resin nanocomposites (EP/LS) were evaluated when LS was combined with two flame retardants, melamine borate (MB) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP), that also act via a surface protection layer. Thermogravimetry (TG), TG coupled with Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (TG-FTIR), oxygen index (LOI), UL 94 burning chamber (UL 94) and cone calorimeter were used. The glassy coating because of 10 wt % MB during combustion showed effects in the cone calorimeter test similar to nanodispersed LS, and somewhat better flame retardancy in flammability tests, such as LOI and UL 94. Adding APP to EP resulted in intumescent systems. The fire retardancy was particularly convincing when 15 wt % APP was used, especially for low external heat flux, and thus, also in flammability tests like LOI and UL 94. V0 classification is achieved when 15 wt % APP is used in EP. The flame retardancy efficiency of the protection layers formed does not increase linearly with the MB and APP concentrations used. The combination of LS with MB or APP shows antagonism; thus the performance of the combination of LS with MB or APP, respectively, was disappointing. No optimization of the carbonaceous-inorganic surface layer occurred for LS-MB. Combining LS with APP inhibited the intumescence, most probably through an increase in viscosity clearly above the value needed for intumescent behavior. KW - Nanocomposites KW - Fire retardance KW - Thermosets KW - Organoclay KW - Ammonium polyphosphate KW - Melamine borate PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/app.32512 SN - 0021-8995 SN - 1097-4628 VL - 118 IS - 2 SP - 1134 EP - 1143 PB - Wiley InterScience CY - Hoboken, NJ AN - OPUS4-21725 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Flame Retardant Mechanisms of Red Phosphorus and Magnesium Hydroxide in High Impact Polystyrene N2 - The flame retardant mechanisms of red phosphorus, magnesium hydroxide and red phosphorus combined with magnesium hydroxide were studied in high impact polystyrene by means of comprehensive decomposition studies and combustion tests. The study is intended to illuminate prerequisites and the potential of red phosphorus as a fire retardant for hydrocarbon polymers in the condensed phase and in the gas phase. Thermal and thermo-oxidative decomposition, decomposition kinetics and the product gases evolved were characterized using thermogravimetry coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy, respectively. Fire behaviour was investigated with a cone calorimeter using different external heat fluxes, whereas the flammability was determined by limited oxygen indices. The combustion residues were analysed using XPS. Red phosphorus reduced the heat release in HIPS due to radical trapping in the gas phase. Magnesium hydroxide influenced fire behaviour by heat sink mechanisms, release of water and the formation of a magnesia layer acting as a barrier. The combination of both flame retardants in HIPS nearly resulted in a superposition. A slight synergy in barrier characteristics was due to the formation of magnesium phosphate, whereas a slight anti-synergism occurred in flammability and in the gas phase action. The latter effect is controlled by a decreased fuel rate due to the barrier layer rather than by an initiation of red phosphorus oxidation in the condensed phase. KW - Fire retardancy KW - Polystyrene KW - Pyrolysis KW - TG-FTIR KW - Red Phosphorus KW - Mg(OH)2 KW - Cone Calorimeter KW - Additives KW - Thermogravimetric analysis PY - 2004 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.200400255 SN - 1022-1352 SN - 1521-3935 VL - 205 IS - 16 SP - 2185 EP - 2196 PB - Wiley-VCH Verl. CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-4488 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -