Flame retardant refers to an additive that can improve the flame retardancy, self-extinguishing or smoke suppression of flammable materials. It is an important additive for fine chemical products and synthetic materials. It can prevent materials from being ignited and inhibit the spread of flames, making synthetic materials flame retardant, self-extinguishing and smoke suppressing. In recent years, in order to meet the needs of improved fire protection standards, flame retardant technology has been accelerated, and its application fields have been continuously expanded. Many new, efficient and environmentally friendly flame retardants have emerged in an endless stream, and their market usage has shown a continuous growth trend, and the sales scale has been expanding. At present, the total usage of flame retardants in the world ranks second among all kinds of plastic additives, second only to plasticizers, and has become an indispensable safety "guard" to protect people's life, production and property safety. At the same time, due to the enhancement of people's health and environmental awareness, the development of environmentally friendly, low-toxic, efficient and multifunctional flame retardants has become the future development trend of the flame retardant industry.

      According to data from GRAND VIEW RESEARCH, the flame retardant market size in 2020 is US$7.19 billion, and will reach US$9.3 billion in 2027. The market demand in 2020 is 2.904 million tons, and in 2027 it is 3.590 million tons. The compound growth rates of market size and demand from 2020 to 2027 are 3.6% and 3.0%, respectively. In 2019, the revenue share of the Asia-Pacific region was 50.7%, making it the world's largest flame retardant consumption region, and its demand was mainly driven by China and India; industry policies and regulations are the main factors affecting the demand for flame retardants in Europe.

Plastics are the largest downstream consumer product of flame retardants, accounting for as much as 80%, followed by rubber, textiles, and coatings; while wires and cables, household appliances, and automobiles are the main terminal demands for flame retardants, accounting for nearly 80%.

     There are three ways to classify flame retardants. According to the chemical composition, they can be divided into two categories: organic and inorganic flame retardants. Organic flame retardants are mainly divided into halogen flame retardants and phosphorus flame retardants. Halogen flame retardants are mainly represented by organic bromine flame retardants. Inorganic flame retardants include basic oxides such as magnesium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide. According to statistics from Zhiyan Consulting, in the global consumption of flame retardants, aluminum hydroxide, bromine, phosphorus, antimony trioxide, nitrogen and other flame retardants account for 33%, 21%, 19%, 8%, 7% and 12% respectively.

      Organophosphorus flame retardants refer to organic compounds whose main flame retardant element is phosphorus. It has a different gas phase flame retardant mechanism from bromine flame retardants. Because the products of thermal decomposition of phosphorus-containing compounds have a very strong dehydration effect, they can carbonize the surface of the covered polymer to form a carbon film, isolate the air, and thus achieve the effect of solid phase flame retardancy. Compared with brominated flame retardants, phosphorus flame retardants are more easily hydrolyzed, biodegradable, and relatively non-bioaccumulative. With their low-halogen or halogen-free characteristics, they have attracted attention in the field of flame retardant science and have been developing strongly in recent years. Organophosphorus flame retardants are mainly divided into three categories: chlorophosphate esters, halogen-free phosphate esters, and hypophosphites. Their application areas include polyurethane and engineering plastics.