Fire retardant zein-based materials

Plastics find many uses in the modern-day life. Many of these polymers are derived from petroleum, a not replenish-able resource. To alleviate this problem, governments in many countries have established laws to encourage the use of recycled and/or bio-based "green" products. In this paper, the combustion behavior of a thermoplastic protein zein (TPZ) obtained from a renewable-resource and the fire retardant effect of either lignin (AL) or ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and of their combination on TPZ combustion is studied. Combustion behavior is tested on samples in vertical burning upon small flame ignition or in horizontal configuration on exposure to radiant heat source and pilot flame ignition. Addition of lignin improves the fire retardant behavior of TPZ in vertical self-sustained burning scenario and APP that in pool forced combustion, so their combination is tested to target a material with satisfactory fire retardant behavior in both scenarios.