8. Synergy effects and the use of nanoparticles

8.1 Definition and examples of use

When the combination of flame retardants in the same material produces simple cumulative effects, the overall effect on a reaction-to-fire property (e.g.: total energy released in combustion) or reaction-to-fire test performance (e.g.: limiting oxygen index) is simply proportional to the linear contribution of each of the effects taken separately. In other cases, the observed overall effect of the flame-retardant system may be greater than the sum of the effects of each component taken separately: this is known as a synergy effect. Thus, if the property P achieved by a mixture of components A and B is more advantageous than that given by the corresponding point on the segment P _A -P _...