**2. Igniting low dimensional chemistry to extinguish flame propagation**

Increasingly, researchers and regulators of flame retardant use are looking towards the materials used by nanotechnology to improve the risks associated with anti-fire materials. Nanomaterial architectures offer considerable structural and functional control as host modifiers in parent structures. Particles of diminished size at nanoscales represent an important class of materials of technological value in controlling chemical and physical complexity. They hold the potential to offer considerable pyrolytic control as a new class of flame retardants through reinforcement of intercalated low dimensional materials. The effects of increased nanoparticle surface area and surface energy at the nanoparticle-polymer interface [35] caters for diverse orientations at nanoscales that impose changes to the overall microscale structure. Favorable polymer-particle associations can result in interactions that the affect physical and chemical properties of flame retardant behavior. Contributions in this respect may arise from surface interactions (in micro or nano confined spaces), in shape formations affecting polymer spacing and those that result from interfacial compatibility at polymer-filler interfaces. The larger elements of the effects that occur at the micro/nano level translate to globalized effects influencing mechanical properties, permeability and flow behavior of gases through interspaces and structures, thermal property and conductivity. Further, nano based flame retardants utilize less chemicals compared to their bulk counterparts diminishing the production of toxic vapors.
