Is it possible to create a plastic or paper that, if it burns, DOESN’T create toxic choking carcinogenic fumes? Or is there something inherent in oxidization of materials (esp organic ones) that creates byproducts incompatible with life?
I was reading about how toxic the smoke from a house fire is, and wondered if humans could engineer curtains or carpet that perhaps *can* burn — but with smoke that is relatively safe to breath.
i mean obviously it would be better if stuff wasn’t flammable in the first place, but, one thing at a time 🙂
In: Chemistry
>Is it possible to create a plastic or paper that, if it burns, DOESN’T create toxic choking carcinogenic fumes? Or is there something inherent in oxidization of materials (esp organic ones) that creates byproducts incompatible with life?
*Theoretically and mathematically *(stoichiometric) clean combustion in just produces water vapor, and carbon dioxide. This is hard to do in a controlled environment though. All of the oxygen and all of the fuel would be burnt to its most basic forms, water and the carbon dioxide. Incomplete combustion, like too much fuel to air ratio, has byproducts that become smoke… the half burnt fuel.
>I was reading about how toxic the smoke from a house fire is, and wondered if humans could engineer curtains or carpet that perhaps can burn — but with smoke that is relatively safe to breath.
i mean obviously it would be better if stuff wasn’t flammable in the first place, but, one thing at a time 🙂
Ironically, I think a material designed to completely combust and produce nothing but water vapor and co2 would be something like a high purity charcoal. Charcoal is pretty much just carbon so with an ideal fuel ratio produces very little smoke. More complex materials have more byproducts and secondary stages. Like a super complex plastic will have more stages to decompose to when burning than just pure carbon.
All of that being said, it would still be an issue in a house fire because it’s still producing heat and carbon dioxide. An ideal combustion ratio actually produces more heat…. so not ideal.
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