Professor Dennis Price
Professional biography:
Dennis Price obtained his PhD from the University of Wales in 1959. He then spent two years as a research associate at Cornell University, New York before returning to the England at the University of Salford where he established an internationally known fire chemistry research group. In 2003, his group re-located to merge with Professor Horrock's fire group the University of Bolton where he is now Professor of Fire Chemistry. His early work at Salford enabled him to establish an international reputation within the field of time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) studying the kinetics of fast reactions. In the 1980's this technique was applied to studies of fire retardance, a subject of significant interest to society and industry. His current specialised interest has developed from there. In particular, a unique experiment using laser pyrolysis/time-of-flight mass spectrometry was developed to model reactions analogous to those occurring in the very narrow interface region between the flame and the solid surface in a polymer fire. Such reactions are fundamental to flame retardant behaviour. He is one of the few UK academics actively studying the fundamentals of flame retardancy. He has over 180 publications and has edited some 12 books and various conference proceedings. A second edition of the seminal book Advances in Fire Retardant Materials, which he co-edits with Professor AR Horrocks, is due to be published by Woodhead Publishing Ltd. early in the summer of 2008.
Current research interests:
Polymer degradation
Mechanisms of flame retardancy
Development of novel experimental techniques to study polymer flammability
Most recent publications:
D Price,L.K. Cunliffe, K.J.Bullett (formerly Pyrah), T.R. Hull, G.J. Milnes, J.R. Ebdon, B.J. Huntand P. Joseph , 'Thermal Behaviour of covalently bonded phosphate and phosphonate: Flame Retardant Polystyrene Systems', Polym Degrad & Stability, 92 (2007) 1101.
D Price, L K Cunliffe, K J Bullett, T R Hull, and G J Milnes, J.R. Ebdon, B.J. Hunt and P.Joseph, 'Mechanisms of the flame retardant behaviour of covalently bonded phosphorus' in Fire and Polymers: Materials and Concepts for Hazard Prevention, (eds. C.A. Wilkie and G.L. Nelson, ACS Symposium Series No.922, p252, Oxford University Press, (2005).
Esmail O Elakesh, T. Richard Hull, Dennis Price, Graham J. Milnes and Peter Carty, 'Effect of Plasticizers on the Thermal Decomposition of Chlorinated Polyvinylchloride',J. Vinyl and Additive Technology 11, 21-27, (2005)
Price, D., Liu, Y., Milnes, G.J., Hull, R., Kandola, B.K., Horrocks, A.R.
'An investigation into the mechanism of flame retardancy and smoke suppression by melamine in flexible polyurethane foam' (2002) Fire and Materials 26 (4-5), pp. 201-206.
FLAME RETARDANT MATERIALS: Applications and Performance, AR Horrocks and D Price (eds), Woodhead Publishing Ltd., 2001 (ISBN 1 85573 419 2 or ISBN 0 8493 3883 2).