PEEK’s flame retardant, low smoke, and low toxic gas emission characteristics are briefly introduced

PEEK is difficult to burn in general situations. Even when it burns, the amount of smoke and corrosive gas produced is extremely small. PEEK has the advantages of flame retardant, low smoke, and low toxic gas emission. The details are as follows:

1. Flame retardant: The flammability of a material is the ability to maintain combustion after obtaining high energy from an oxygen and nitrogen mixture. The recognized standard for measuring flammability is UL94, which is to first ignite a vertical sample of a predetermined shape and then measure the time it takes for the material to automatically extinguish. The test result of PEEK is V-0, which is a good grade of flame retardancy.

2. Smoke generation: The standard for measuring smoke generated by burning plastics is ASTM E662. This standard uses the smoke laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) of the United States to measure the visible light dimness of smoke produced by the combustion of standard shape samples in units of relative optical density. The test can be carried out under conditions of continuous combustion (with flame) or interrupted combustion (without flame). Among plastics, PEEK has lower smoke generation;

3. Toxic gas emission: PEEK is the same as many organic materials. When decomposed at high temperature, PEEK mainly produces carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The British aircraft test standard BSS is used. 7239 can detect extremely low concentrations of toxic gas emissions. This detection process requires completely burning 100 grams of sample in a 1 cubic meter space, and then analyzing the toxic gas produced. The toxicity index is defined as the ratio of the toxic gas concentration produced under normal conditions to the dose that can be fatal to a person in 30 minutes. The index of PEEK5600G is 0.22, and no acid gas is detected.

4. Therefore, PEEK can replace aluminum and other metals to manufacture various aircraft parts. Using its excellent flame retardant properties, it can be used to manufacture aircraft internal parts to reduce the degree of harm when an aircraft fire occurs.