{"id":183104,"date":"2026-11-02T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T06:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=183104"},"modified":"2026-10-28T12:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:21:17","slug":"sustainable-materials-that-help-slow-fire-spread-and-reduce-smoke-in-the-event-of-a-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/sustainable-materials-that-help-slow-fire-spread-and-reduce-smoke-in-the-event-of-a-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable materials that help slow fire spread and reduce smoke in the event of a fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\u00a9 AIMPLAS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Every summer, fires once again highlight the importance of solutions that can help minimise their consequences. In this field, AIMPLAS is researching new materials and coatings that help slow fire spread, reduce fire intensity and decrease smoke generation in applications used in construction, transport and infrastructure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results obtained through AIMPLAS\u2019s various research lines include sustainable flame retardants<\/a> for paints, varnishes and plastic materials, such as those developed in the PHOSFIRE project. These have reduced the total heat released during combustion by nearly 50% and cut the peak heat-release rate by up to 46% compared with reference solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen we talk about fire safety, every minute counts. Our goal is to develop materials that help slow the development of a fire, reduce the heat and smoke generated and, in this way, improve the possibilities for responding to an emergency,\u201d\u00a0explains Lodovico Agostinis, Head of the Flame Retardants Research Group at AIMPLAS.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researcher<\/strong> stresses that\u00a0\u201cfire protection can no longer be addressed solely in terms of material effectiveness. We also need to develop safer and more sustainable solutions, using manufacturing processes with a lower environmental impact and renewable raw materials wherever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Safer and more sustainable materials<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The latest results in this field come from the REFUGI project, which is developing a new generation of eco-friendly, fire-retardant varnishes and coatings to improve the safety of timber construction. With wood increasingly used in construction and interior-design applications, REFUGI aims to develop solutions that not only help slow fire spread, but are also more sustainable in terms of both the materials used and the way they are produced. To this end, the project uses technologies such as mechanochemistry, which reduce solvent use and support manufacturing processes with a lower environmental impact. The formulations developed also incorporate bio-based and biodegradable materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The materials developed have been validated on MDF panels, which are widely used in furniture, wall coverings and interior spaces. Tests show that some formulations reduce the intensity and growth rate of a fire and significantly decrease smoke production, one of the factors that most hinders the evacuation of people in emergencies. In certain formulations, researchers also observed the formation of protective layers during exposure to fire, capable of acting as a heat barrier and helping slow material degradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the developments have been validated on wooden surfaces, the resulting solutions are highly versatile and can also be applied to other materials, such as plastic or metal surfaces, broadening their potential use in construction, infrastructure, mobility and the automotive sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEFESTOS, a new European initiative to advance towards safer alternatives<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

AIMPLAS\u2019s experience in this field has recently led the European Commission to select the technology centre to coordinate HEFESTOS<\/a>, an initiative that will investigate the use of brominated flame retardants and assess the feasibility of transitioning towards safer and more sustainable alternatives for sectors such as construction, automotive and cabling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project will involve companies, particularly SMEs, experts and associations to create a working group capable of analysing the different perspectives on this transition and providing technical evidence to help guide future European regulatory decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFire safety will remain a fundamental need in strategic sectors. However, replacing current solutions does not depend on a single actor: its complexity requires coordination, expertise and a comprehensive approach capable of identifying bottlenecks, providing technical evidence and helping guide future European regulatory decisions,\u201d\u00a0Agostinis explains in relation to the HEFESTOS initiative<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The PHOSFIRE and REFUGI projects, meanwhile, have been carried out with funding from IVACE+i and support from the European Union\u2019s ERDF funds, driving research into new solutions to improve the fire performance of materials used in strategic sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Every summer, fires once again highlight the importance of solutions that can help minimise their consequences. In this field, AIMPLAS is researching new materials and coatings that help slow fire spread, reduce fire intensity and decrease smoke generation in applications used in construction, transport and infrastructure. The results obtained through AIMPLAS\u2019s various research lines include […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":183120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":" AIMPLAS\u2019s various research lines include sustainable\u00a0flame retardants\u00a0for paints, varnishes and plastic materials, such as those developed in the PHOSFIRE project","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[28541],"supplier":[11215,2317,5585],"class_list":["post-183104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-flameretardancy","supplier-aimplas-asociacion-de-investigacion-de-materiales-plasticos-y-conexas","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183143,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183104\/revisions\/183143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183104"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=183104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}