Antimony-Oxide-based flame retardant

Starting from September 15, 2024, the Chinese government imposed export controls on antimony and related items, restricting the export of high-purity antimony oxide (purity >99.99%). This policy led to a sharp decrease in China’s antimony ingot exports, dropping from 6,533 tons in September to 190 tons in October, a decrease of 97.1%.

China is one of the world’s largest antimony exporting countries, so the decrease in exports directly caused international prices to soar. There are several reasons why the Chinese government decided to control the mining and export of antimony:

Firstly, domestic antimony reserves are limited. Despite China’s abundant antimony resources, these resources are finite. With increasing extraction rates, the rate of resource depletion accelerates, resulting in a gradual reduction of remaining resources. In comparison to 2014, China’s antimony reserves have decreased by 470,000 tons.

These export control measures are aimed at protecting domestic antimony resources, ensuring their sustainable development and utilization. Additionally, these measures can help stabilize international market prices and safeguard the development and interests of domestic industries.

Due to export controls, the supply of antimony trioxide has indeed been greatly affected, which has had a significant impact on the flame retardant industry. We do have a new product, Avolex, that can perfectly replace antimony trioxide in the plastic industry in terms of flame retardant effect. 

Avolex is a special antimony trioxide high-efficiency composite flame retardant synergist, It is widely used in PVC cables, wire materials, PVC coatings, PVC artificial leather, and other products. Using ultra-high dispersion technology, in conjunction with the synergistic effect of special structured antimony compounds and functional additives, it can exhibit a superlative synergistic flame-retardant effect in various halogen-antimony flame retardant systems. Due to the good dispersibility of antimony trioxide, combined with other antimony compounds and functional additives, the ability to inhibit free radical chain reactions is enhanced, promoting surface carbonization, improving flame retardant efficiency, and significantly reducing the amount of halogen flame retardants required.

• Performance

1. Ultra-high dispersibility, significant synergistic flame retardant effect.
2. Low smoke emission and excellent carbonization effect during combustion, making it easier to meet UL94 V-0 rating.
3. Reduces the amount of bromine-based flame retardants added, lowering costs and enhancing product performance.
4. Complies with environmental regulations such as ROHS, REACH, and is environmentally friendly.
5. Whiteness reaches ≥95% of that of antimony trioxide.

• Storage

1. Packaging: Composite paper-plastic packaging 25kgs/bag; bulk packaging 1000kgs/bag, or customized according to customer requirements.
2. Storage: Store according to general chemical transportation and storage practices, in a dry, ambient temperature environment, strictly preventing moisture and heat.