Advanced Functional Polymers and Nanocomposites

Articles

Vol. 1 (2026)

Degradation Behavior of Polymeric Fire-Retardant Systems: A Case Study on TBOEP

Submitted
January 13, 2026
Published
2026-01-07

Abstract

With fireproofing function organophosphate flame retardants tri(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) have been added into many polymeric materials widely. During applications of these polymeric fireproofing materials it was discharged into environment and causes serious problems to human and ecosystem. To reveal the degradation behaviour of TBOEP and its influence on environment, quantum chemical methods were employed to investigate the mechanisms, kinetics and toxicity of TBOEP in the atmosphere. Results indicate that OH radicals are more effective than ClO radicals to degrade TBOEP with H-abstraction mechanism dominating via low barriers less than 40 kJ/mol. Kinetically, as the temperature increases from 298 to 800 K, the total rate constant decreases gradually, and high temperature such as building-fire condition is unfavourable to degrade TBOEP. The degradation products exhibit significantly reduced acute and chronic toxicity to fish, daphnid and green algae. Moreover, mutagenicity toxicity is negative, while developmental toxicity increases in the degradation products. This work gives new insights into the environmental chemistry of polymeric fireproofing materials in the atmosphere.

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