Fire Retardant Bio-Composites for High Performance Applications (FRBioComp)

The FRBioComp project will produce high performance, fire-retardant, environmentally sustainable composite materials, by developing and subsequently combining three components: (1) Inherently fire retardant natural fibres; (2) Natural fibres treated with fire retardants; and (3) Biopolymers incorporating synergistic fire retardants (e.g. non-halogenated fire retardants and layered-silicate nanoclays). These biocomposites will have reduced weight, production cost and environmental impact compared to current structures and will produce minimum smoke and toxic products on burning. The natural fibres and biopolymer fibres will be commingled and incorporated into highly aligned, twistless yarns and fabrics with high mechanical reinforcement potential and processability. The materials will be processed into composite parts and profiles and subjected to mechanical and fire tests, leading to the design, development and evaluation of several application specific case study parts. The economic, social and environmental impacts of the materials will be assessed. The materials developed will comply with the fire performance requirements for a range of applications, in particular construction (interior/exterior cladding, furniture) and transportation (interior panels, seats), and other sectors including automotive, electronics/consumer goods and aerospace.