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Halogen-free flame retardants -
safer fire protection that is also sustainable

A new kind of fire protection for the needs of today

It is a well-known story: Chemicals with important functions are found to be harmful and must be phased out. To comply with laws and protect consumers, manufacturers must find a safer alternative that still works well.

Our phosphorus-based flame retardants are such an alternative for several halogenated compounds that have long been the global standard. And they not only work well but are also a flagship of sustainable innovation.

Learn about the many benefits of our flame retardants – and why they have superb capabilities to improve (fire) safety of many materials and products.

Get a quick overview of what we offer

Industries

The five main segments we serve are Building & Construction, Electrical & Electronics, Textiles & Fibers, Transportation, and Industrial Applications. Our flame retardants are used to protect steel structures, insulation and coatings in homes and buildings, and help to ensure the safety of cables, switches, housings and other E&E components. Our products go into seat frames, engine covers and many other parts of vehicles, allow the protection of the fibers of carpets and textiles, and we offer phosphorus chemicals for cleaning, metal treatment and other uses. > MORE
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Reliable safety
Dependable fire safety for meeting strict requirements
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Low toxicity
Non-halogenated solutions
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High flexibility
Cutting-edge chemistry for a wide range of applications

Product Lines

We offer tailor-made chemistries for your needs. Based on ammonium polyphosphate, our Exolit™ AP line can protect a wide range of materials with intumescent technology, while our liquid EP line is particularly suited for epoxy resins. The Exolit™ OP series provides organophosphorus compounds for demanding E&E applications, VF facilitates use with viscose fibers, and RP handling of red phosphorus. Our Hordaphos™ products are flame-retarding phosphate esters with many benefits, and we also supply other phosphorus chemicals for uses in industry. > MORE
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Highly innovative
Solutions for lightweighting in e-mobility and other trends
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More sustainable
Halogen-free and available from renewable-based materials
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Thoroughly tested
Developed and serviced with strong capabilities and expertise

Polymers / Materials

Our non-halogenated flame retardants can be used for a wide variety of polymers, with a focus on polyamides, polyesters and polyurethanes. They can be applied in epoxy and phenol resins, latex, linoleum and rubber, as well as for many types of thermoplastic elastomers. They can be added to adhesives, sealants and dispersions, and can protect viscose and non-wovens as well as cotton products. The materials they can be used for also include wood and wood-plastic composites, as well as paper and steel.
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Broad compatibility
Excellent solutions for many different matrices and substrates
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Easy handling
Supplied as powders, liquids and special easy-to-add forms
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EPA* recommendation
Halogen-free, low-migration reactive options for PU foams
*US Environmental Protection Agency

Discover the benefits of our offerings

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Developing, formulating and testing - our dedicated technical service can help you

Two flame retardants and materials experts inspect the result of one of the many flammability tests Clariant can perform at its labs.
Developing flame retardant compounds, thermosets and coatings is no easy task – and much easier with our help. At our labs, we can conduct a variety of flammability tests, including small scale flammability (Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 94, Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI), Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302, German DIN 4102 B2), as well as Cone Calorimeter, Glow Wire Tests and for electrical arcing resistance the Comparative Tracking Index (CTI). We also have many methods for characterizing plastics properties like strength and rheology, as well as various techniques for testing FR compatibility with thermoset composites.

For customers seeking to test the performance of intumescent coating formulations, we can carry out a range of standard fire tests. With our support, keeping up with changing fire safety requirements is no sweat, and finding the right ingredients easy pickings.

A century of cumulated expertise powered by green energy and full of new ideas

YEARS
of cumulated technical
know-how in our R&D team
%
Green Electricity
at our flame retardant
production site in Knapsack
INNOVATIONS
currently in development in
the flame retardant field

How we innovate to improv safety

Less plastics enter oceans thanks to Exolit™

Two people collect ocean-bound plastic (OBP) waste of the type Clariant and Lavergne recycled for their flame-retarded PET compound used in electric and electronic equipment.
Clariant works with circular plastics specialist Lavergne to improve the recycling of ocean-bound plastic waste found near rivers and coasts. The resulting flame retarded PET compound is already used by major brands. > MORE

Excellent GreenScreen® Benchmark 3 rating

A woman in a lab coat and goggles at a workbench illustrates excellent hazard assessment for Exolit® OP flame retardants
Clariant’s Exolit™ OP flame retardants have scored excellently within the GreenScreen® standard for hazard assessment. Based on fuller data than earlier ratings, the third-party assessment yielded a very good Benchmark 3 result. > MORE

Hot off the press news

  • April 24, 2025
    Celebrating 50 years of flame retardants: Exolit™ AP leads the way to a more sustainable future
    In 2025, Clariant is proud to celebrate a significant milestone: 50 years of Exolit AP flame retardants protecting lives and property around the world. Based on advanced ammonium polyphosphate (APP) technology, these pioneering flame retardants have become the industry benchmark in a wide range of applications, including intumescent coatings, fire barrier sealing systems, thermoset composites for e-mobility battery housings and coatings, rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation foams and more. As Clariant marks this golden anniversary, it is not just celebrating past achievements but actively shaping the future of fire protection.
    more
  • April 09, 2025
    Clariant teams with Technip Energies to introduce new catalyst for unprecedented low steam-to-oil ratios in styrene production
    Clariant, a global leader in specialty chemicals, today announced the launch of StyroMax UL-100, its most advanced ethylbenzene dehydrogenation catalyst to date. This innovative catalyst achieves exceptional performance at unprecedented low steam-to-oil ratios (S/O) of 0.76 by weight, setting a new industry benchmark in SM production efficiency.
    more
  • April 01, 2025
    Clariant launches Ceridust™ 1310 to address carnauba wax supply chain volatility in printing inks
    Clariant announces the launch of Ceridust 1310, an innovative wax solution designed to address the increasing supply chain complexities facing formulators who rely on carnauba wax for printing ink applications. This development demonstrates Clariant's understanding of market challenges and commitment to providing reliable solutions for its customers.
    more

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