Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on January 10, 2018 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: April 27, 2009 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2009-1013.pr001
Preface The possibility always exists worldwide that a modern material will catch fire, which can lead to loss of property or life. Althoughfirerisk is not a new problem to society, as new polymeric materials are introduced into more and more everyday activities, the potential for fire risk sometimes increases or changes in such a way that one must remain vigilant in addressing thisrisk.The huge benefits of polymeric materials in modern life cannot be stressed enough, but as these materials are put into new applications, the fire risk must be addressed. The typical method of addressing this risk is through the use of fire-retardant additives, which interact with polymers through physical and chemical mechanisms to either prevent the polymer from burning or to slow the rate of polymer burning so that it can be easily extinguished. As a class of industrial additives, flame retardants are the largest group of materials used and sold worldwide and growth continues in this area. Due to this ever-increasing use as well as new regulations on the use and sale of these additives, a clear need exists for a peer-reviewed book showing the latest advances in flame retardant additives, chemistry, and approaches to the study of fire and polymers. Because fire and polymers are important social issues for safety in modern civilization and due to the complex scientific issues and multiple disciplines of science involved, a symposium on the subject of fire and polymers was organized and held in New Orleans, Louisiana in April of 2008. The symposium was the 5 in this series, buildingfromprevious symposia held in 1989, 1994, 2000, and 2004. A total of 44 papers from researchers from around the world were presented, representing academia, government, and industry research in this field. From those presentations, 22 chapters were selected for incorporation into this book. th
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Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on January 10, 2018 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: April 27, 2009 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2009-1013.pr001
Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge support from the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering, Inc. for providing the venue for the symposium as well as for providingfinancialsupport for the symposium activities and for support in getting foreign speakers to present at the symposium. We also thank the Petroleum Research Foundation for their grant to invite and support travel costs for foreign researchers to speak at this symposium. Finally, we also gratefully acknowledge support from our industrial sponsors who helped with many of the other expenses we had and helped make our sym-posium a great success: The Govmark Organization, Minelco, Ashland Inc., Rio Tinto Minerals, Akzo Nobel, Albemarle Corporation, Nabeltec A G , Elkem AS, ICL Industrial Products, Nanocor, Clariant GmbH, Ram Technologies, and Southern Clay products.
Charles A. Wilkie
Gordon L. Nelson
Department of Chemistry Marquette University P.O. Box 1881 Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
College of Science Florida Institute of Technology 150 West University Boulevard Melbourne, FL 32901-6975
Alexander B. Morgan Multiscale Composites and Polymers Division University of Dayton Research Institute 300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-0160
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