Facilely produced highly adhered, low thermal conductivity and non-combustible coatings for fire safety

Fire resistant coatings have been proven as an efficient way to improve fire safety in three aspects: reducing the Heat Release Rate (HRR), delaying the ignition time and preventing heat transfer. Herein, a SiO2 based polymeric composite coating with a lower thermal conductivity and brilliant fire resistance was developed. Isocyanate and sodium silicate could form the final Si-O-Si network structure by polymerization. Compared to the wood without coating, the coated wood shows a significantly increase in limit oxygen index (LOI), has reached 48.0 vol% in the test. As for the cone calorimetry test, coated wood shows a 55.3% decrease in the first peak Heat Release Rate (pHRR) and the Total Heat Release (THR) obtains fire-resistant standard. After exposed to butane flame for 30 mins, the coated wood could still maintain its structural integrity with only 180 degrees C on the non-exposed side. The commercial standard test of the coating was also investigated. To better understand what role does the polyurea play in the system, a theoretical calculation was done during the research to discuss the interaction between the silica and polyurea. As a fast brush-formed coating, it exhibits a great potential in the field of fire-resistant materials, and may broaden the application prospects of wood. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study developed a SiO2-based polymeric composite coating with lower thermal conductivity and excellent fire resistance. The coating showed significant improvements in fire safety tests, indicating great potential for broadening application prospects.