Tannic acid-based prepolymer systems for enhanced intumescence in epoxy thermosets

Tannic acid (TA) is a bio-based high-molecular-weight organic molecule. Although biologically sourced, TA is a pollutant in industrial wastewater streams, and there is desire to find applications in which to downcycle this molecule. Many flame retardants (FRs) used in epoxy are synthesized from petroleum-based monomers. Various bio-based modifiers have been developed, but increasing the flame retardancy of the system without trade-offs with...