The manufacturing of flame retardant textiles is even now a difficult issue, though many decades of research and studies practiced in its development. During 1960s and 1970s a period of slow progress shown and there was a primitive promise and improvement explained in flame retardant studies.

Every year thousands of people loose their life due to burning. There are number of disaster occurs due to fires in public places and hence need serious consideration. Because of the expansion of electrical and electronic apparatus, both our homes and offices surround with an increasing potential of "fire load" of flammable materials. In homes and offices flame-retardants can avoid a raise in fire risk from the increasing number of consumer and electronic goods. They also safeguard the modern materials and equipment such as technical plastics, building insulation, cables and circuit boards from igniting and from spreading a fire.

First we should have to know about the concept of combustion prior to talking the flame retardants. Combustion is classified as a fast, self-quicken exothermal redox progression that is capable to expand in the environment and is attended by luminosity and the creation of flame. Combustion occurs by a chain or thermal activities, according to the source of beginning and expansion; it stores the active particles in the system or releases heat.

A fire can progress and split in three different phases

. Beginning of fire
. Completely built-up fire
. Declining fire

The fire begins with an ignition source placing combustible material on fire. The fire increases, heats up the nearby and once the resources in the room have created sufficient combustible gases and are adequately hot, flashover occurs and the entire room is bound with the fire. Here the temperature up to 1200 degree C can be attained and it is the stage of the beginning of wholly built up fire. The fire then after reduces as the obtainable fire load is inspired by the fire or if the fire takes place in entirely closed room, the fire can lessen because lack of oxygen.

So generally number sequence affects the fire, they are heat created by a flame, fuel and air, more particularly oxygen. The essential factors which lead a fire are:

. Combustibility: A material burnt or not?
. Ignitability: How and when it will catch the fire, if it is combustible?
. Widen of flame: How rapidly will the flame spread, once it ignited?
. Heat discharge: The rate and total quantity of heat generated.

The function of fire safety policy

Fire safety policies targeting to stop fires and to avoid major accidents, saves material goods and properties. For building, transportation i.e. road and rail vehicles, aircraft and ships, electrical engineering and electronics as well as for furnishing and textiles you may have different methods and tactics of fire prevention and safety regulation tools.

Fire safety provisions are the way to support the general fire safety measures and are included in rules, technical strategy, approval procedures and safety ethics. They insure finished goods and consent to their categorization by the application of particular fire analysis. Today, there is a tremendous need of fire safety equipment and adoption of regulation globally.

The function of fire analysis

The function of fire check or analysis is to conclude the fire possibility for materials and finished products applicable in building, transportation and furniture. They are the primary source by which a material's flammability or a product's fire execution is decided. Fire check or analysis is made to replicate the ignition behaviour of materials, taking to consider how it harmful to humans and property. The material has to come across the definite fire safety standards defined in the tests or analysis.

Flame retardants

To make combustible materials more resistant to prevent from fire or any cause of fire, flame retardants chemicals or materials are added and applied to them. They are made to lessen the possibility of a fire preliminary in a situation of acquaintance with a little heat cause such as cigarette, candle or an electrical fault. The flame retardant will decrease momentum of combustion and stop fire from scattering to other items, if the flame retarded material has provided. There is a wide variety of various chemicals are applicable for this purpose, the term "flame retardant" explains a utility and not any chemical class.

Category wise classification of flame retardants

Flame retardants are classified according to their compounds:

1. Halogens (Bromine and Chlorine) flame retardants compounds
2. Nitrogen flame retardants compounds
3. Minerals (based on aluminium and magnesium) based flame retardants compounds
4. Phosphorus based flame retardants compounds
5. Other various flame retardants

1. Halogens, Brominated flame retardants (BFRs)

With specific properties and toxicological behavior there is availability of about 75 different commercial brominated flame retardants. The only general aspect is they include bromine and act in the vapour phase by a drastic trap means. They are available in different appearance, either in liquids, powders or pellets. A few of the vital BFRs are:

. Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs): Close to the diphenylether molecule they are structured up to 10 bromine atoms. Penta, octa and deca brominated diphenylethers are its commercial products, and are available in the form of mixtures of diphenylethers with varying degree of bromination with a high molecular weight and great thermal constancy. The most important uses are for making styrenic polymers, polyolefins, polyesters, nylons, textiles.

. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD): A cycloaliphatic BFR, generally applied in foamed polystyrene for insulation of buildings where it is only required at extremely little loadings.

. Tetrabromobisphenol (TBBPA): It is mostly applicable for epoxy resins, for printed wiring boards and this kind of application, where it is responded into the polymer backbone and so develop into a strongly bound ingredient of the polymer.