Flame retardants of polymeric materials – calculation of the oxygen index

This work presents problems associated with the flammability of polymeric materials which are widely used in many industries (PP, PE, PVC, PS, PET). The first part of the article discusses and characterises the methods of flame retarding polymeric materials, through their modification with a suitably selected fire retardant. The second part of the work presents the possibility of assessing the flammability of polymer materials, without performing laboratory tests, using the oxygen index method (OI). A two Johnson equations and the van Krevelen equation were used in the calculations. The strongest agreement between the results of OI and experimental values was obtained from the Johnson equation for PE and PP, and for PS from the van Krevelen equation.