Fire retardant (FR) additives are critical elements integrated into resins to augment their resistance to ignition, diminish flame-spread, and restrict fire propagation

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees $675,714.33 on May 1, 2026, under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI, CFDA 10.310) to develop biobased fire-retardant additives from agricultural byproducts.

The award funds research to synthesize nanogel fire-retardant additives composed of 100 percent biobased materials derived from phytic acid extracted from wheat bran and glycerol from biodiesel production. The project encompasses five objectives: cost-effective extraction pathways for phytic acid from agricultural waste; comprehensive structure-activity and fire-performance studies comparing the nanogels to currently available fire-retardant additives; life-cycle and techno-economic analysis to measure carbon footprint; and evaluation of hyperbranched polyglycerol as a potential replacement for PFAS-based surfactants in aqueous film-forming foams used in firefighting materials. Preliminary data from a prior USDA-NIFA seed grant supports the feasibility of incorporating phytic acid into polymeric coating resins.

Performance will occur in Alafaya, Florida from May 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028. The award is classified as a Project Grant.

While commercially available fire-retardant additives are indispensable for bolstering fire resistance, they may pose several challenges, including environmental impact, production of toxic smoke, carcinogenicity, and performance trade-offs. Particularly of interest are the PFAS-rich surfactants used in aqueous film forming foams (afff), which are crucial ingredient of many fire-fighting materials. In this proposal, our objective is to synthesize 100% biobased, highly efficient and universal FR additives in the form of 'nanogels' from agricultural byproducts. We have identified phosphorous-rich organic acid, phytic acid (from wheat bran), and glycerol (from biodiesel production), as the precursors for these universal FR additives. Our promising preliminary data, derived from support from the USDA-nifa seed grant, clearly demonstrates a versatile approach to incorporatephytic acid into polymeric coating resins. In this proposal, we aim to conduct an in-depth engineering and optimization study on the pathways for extracting phytic acid in a cost-effective manner from agricultural byproducts (OBJECTIVE1). We will also conduct comprehensive structure-activity and FR-performance studies to establish the efficiency of nanogels over currently available FR additives (objectives 2-3). Finally, life-cycle and techno-economic analysis will be conducted to identify the carbon footprint of the nanogels as universal FR additives (objective 4). The hyperbranched polyglycerol, one of the components of FR nanogel studied in this project, demonstrate excellent surface activity especially when chemically conjugated with phytic acids. Therefore, we anticipate the use of polyglycerol and other hyperbranched derviatives will partially replace or reduce the use of PFAS-based surfactants in afff formulations (objective 5). Collectively, this proposal seeks to advance the field of FR additives by focusing on developing novel or enhanced products and processes that leverage agricultural-derived byproducts. Additionally, the proposal aims to broaden the utilization of waste and byproducts originating from agricultural and food systems.