Vitrimer Design for Flame Retardancy

The gap between thermoplastics and thermosets is filled by vitrimers, a recent and fascinating class of materials that exhibit the properties of polymer networks below a certain temperature, above which they can be reworked and reshaped like thermoplastic systems, thanks to the presence of dynamic covalent bonds in their structure. Vitrimers are, therefore, well suited to the current circular economy approach, as they can be easily mechanically recycled at the end of their life. However, despite their properties that make them potentially suitable for several structural and functional applications, vitrimers burn easily when exposed to an irradiative heat flux or a direct flame. Therefore, significant efforts have been made in recent years to design, develop, and implement effective flame retardant vitrimers. This chapter aims to summarise the latest research results, discuss the current challenging issues, and provide the reader with some perspectives for the coming years.