Flame Retardant Passes The Test

News Release - Silicone surfactants deliver FR performance improvements to foam manufacturing processes in small-scale combustibility tests

GE's NIAX* Silicone Surfactant for Use in Bedding and Furniture Products.
Photo courtesy of GEAM

Seattle, WA, USA--(Jobwerx)--APRIL 19, 2005--GE Advanced Materials' NIAX* surfactant, although not inherently flame retardant (FR), has been shown to deliver FR performance improvements to foam in small-scale combustibility tests.

Now, GE is launching NIAX silicone L-650, which offers a further 10- to 30-percent reduction by weight of flame-retardant use in slabstock foam applications, compared to earlier products in the industry. An additional improvement: new NIAX silicone L-650 can be applied in conventional foam manufacturing processes, as well as those that use carbon dioxide (CO2) as an auxiliary blowing agent.

The GE surfactant can be applied in conventional foam manufacturing processes and in those that use carbon dioxide (CO2) as an auxiliary blowing agent.

It is an excellent candidate for use in FR grades of foam for furniture, bedding, and automotive products, to reduce the amount of flame retardant required to pass small-scale tests like California Technical Bulletin 117 and MVSS-302. In addition to NIAX silicone's outstanding FR improvement, this quality may also translate into reduced material costs for manufacturers who use the product.

"GE's introduction of NIAX silicone L-635 in 2002 re-established equal processing performance for flame-retardant surfactants," said Lee Lawler, GE Advanced Materials' global technology leader, flexible slabstock foam. "Our NIAX silicone L-650 continues this level of processing flexibility with the added value of improved performance and costs."

GE's new NIAX silicone L-650 provides excellent froth formation and stability as required in CO2 processes to help make soft and low-density foam grades. It also delivers wide processing latitude, very fine cell structure in CO2 processes, and a very broad grade range latitude.

GE Advanced Materials' new NIAX silicone L-650 is virtually unrivalled in boosting - at reduced use levels - flame-retardant performance for flexible PU foam.

GE Advanced Materials is a world leader in providing high -technology material solutions. Headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., its businesses include Plastics, Silicones, Quartz, Automotive, Specialty Film & Sheet, Polymershapes, and Sealants and Adhesives.

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