AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, is researching new materials and coatings that help slow fire spread, reduce fire intensity and decrease smoke generation in applications used in construction, transport and infrastructure.

The results obtained through AIMPLAS’s various research lines include sustainable flame retardants for paints, varnishes and plastic materials, such as those developed in the PHOSFIRE project. These have reduced the total heat released during combustion by nearly 50% and cut the peak heat-release rate by up to 46% compared with reference solutions.

Safer and more sustainable materials

The latest results in this field come from the REFUGI project, which is developing a new generation of eco-friendly, fire-retardant varnishes and coatings to improve the safety of timber construction.

REFUGI project is developing new eco-friendly, fire-retardant varnishes and coatings for construction uses.

With wood increasingly used in construction and interior-design applications, REFUGI aims to develop solutions that not only help slow fire spread, but are also more sustainable in terms of both the materials used and the way they are produced.

To this end, the project uses technologies such as mechanochemistry, which reduce solvent use and support manufacturing processes with a lower environmental impact. The formulations developed also incorporate bio-based and biodegradable materials.

The materials developed have been validated on MDF panels, which are widely used in furniture, wall coverings and interior spaces. Tests show that some formulations reduce the intensity and growth rate of a fire and significantly decrease smoke production, one of the factors that most hinders the evacuation of people in emergencies.

In certain formulations, researchers also observed the formation of protective layers during exposure to fire, capable of acting as a heat barrier and helping slow material degradation.

Although the developments have been validated on wooden surfaces, the resulting solutions are highly versatile and can also be applied to other materials, such as plastic or metal surfaces, broadening their potential use in construction, infrastructure, mobility and the automotive sector.

HEFESTOS: New European initiative to advance towards safer alternatives

AIMPLAS’s experience in this field has recently led the European Commission to select the technology center to coordinate HEFESTOS, an initiative that will investigate the use of brominated flame retardants and assess the feasibility of transitioning towards safer and more sustainable alternatives for sectors such as construction, automotive and cabling.

The project will involve companies, particularly SMEs, experts and associations to create a working group capable of analyzing the different perspectives on this transition and providing technical evidence to help guide future European regulatory decisions.