Flame Retardant Polymer Composite and Recent Inclusion of Magnesium Hydroxide Filler Material: A Bibliometric Analysis towards Further Study Scope

Abstract

Fire accidents occur frequently and pose a great threat to high-rise buildings with flammable construction materials. Recently, researchers have been doing significant work on this topic to improve the flame retardancy of composites by adding inorganic metal hydroxide, such as magnesium hydroxide (MH), due to its higher thermal decomposition temperature and low toxicity. Research on flame retardant polymer composites with magnesium hydroxide is rapidly moving toward a more sustainable and safer future. This article provides a comprehensive review of the research trend along with the most cited publications. Most cited articles were chosen to observe the developments. The data collected from the Scopus database in the second week of March 2023 were also categorised to present country-wise improvement, the subject areas involved, and the author’s contribution to the topic. Some issues and challenges have also been highlighted from the analysis. By observing the research direction and highly cited articles, some of the further study scopes are also pointed out to develop fire-rated polymer composites for use as sustainable cladding materials for high-rise buildings.

Keywords

• flame retardancy
• polymer composites
• fillers
• magnesium hydroxide
• fire
• thermal properties