Magnesium oxide produced by decomposition of magnesium hydroxide is an ideal refractory. It can not only help to optimize the fire resistance of the composite, but also has the effect of smoke suppression. Therefore, in the rubber industry, magnesium hydroxide is recognized as a high-quality flame retardant with three functions of smoke suppression, filling and flame retardant. At present, in the field of communication cables, the consumption of inorganic flame retardants in foreign countries such as Japan, EU and the United States exceeds 64%, while China only accounts for 8%.
As an inorganic flame retardant, magnesium hydroxide not only has the effect of flame retardant but also has the function of smoke suppression. In the fire, more than 80% of the victims were not burned but suffocated by smoke. The addition of magnesium hydroxide flame retardant can greatly reduce the smoke density during combustion and reduce the risk coefficient of choking death. Secondly, the addition of magnesium hydroxide will have the effect of thermal insulation. Once burned, magnesium hydroxide forms a thin film of magnesium oxide. This layer of magnesium oxide film is resistant to high temperature, which can prevent further combustion, isolate the air from other flammable substances, and improve people’s survival probability in case of fire.
At present, although the market of high-end magnesium hydroxide flame retardant is still dominated by five manufacturers from the United States, Japan and Israel, More Chemical is committed to breaking this pattern. After 20 years of development, it has become one of the largest domestic enterprises integrating research and development, manufacturing and sales of magnesium compounds and other new materials. Now we have developed new environment-friendly nano materials which can completely replace foreign products, fill the gap in China, and occupy more than 50% market share of high-end products in many industries, such as liquid crystal glass, lithium battery, ceramics, plastics and so on.
With the rapid development of China’s synthetic polymer material industry and the continuous improvement of flame retardant laws and regulations, the demand for flame retardants is increasing. As a non-toxic and smoke suppressive environmental inorganic flame retardant, magnesium hydroxide is in urgent need. China is also a large country of magnesium resources, with unique resource advantages and good market prospects. Therefore, magnesium hydroxide flame retardant in future development is bound to be a bright future.
