Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 10, Issue 37, Pages 31686-31696Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b10227
Keywords
layer-by-layer; chitosan; vermiculite; polyurethane foams; fire protection; insulation
Funding
- United States Air Force Research Laboratory [FA9300-15-C0004]
- European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union [670647/FireBarConcept/2014-2020]
- Office for Science & Technology of the Embassy of France in the United States
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Flexible polyurethane foam (PUF) is widely used in bedding, transportation, and furniture, despite being highly flammable. In an effort to decrease the flammability of the polymer, an environmentally friendly flame retardant coating was deposited on polyurethane foam (PUF) via layer-by-layer assembly. Treated foam was subjected to three different fire scenarios, 10 s torch test, cone calorimetry, and a 900 s burn-through test, to evaluate the thermal shielding behavior of an eight bilayer chitosan/vermiculite clay nanocoating. In each fire scenario, the nanocoating acts as a thermal shield from the flames by successfully protecting the backside of the PUF, whereas the side directly exposed to the flame results in a hollowed nanocoating that maintains the complex three-dimensional porous structure of the foam. Cone calorimetry reveals that the coating reduces the peak heat release rate and total smoke release by 53 and 63%, respectively, whereas a temperature gradient greater than 200 degrees C is observed across a 2.5 cm thick coated foam sample during the rigorous burn-through fire test. The thermal shielding behavior of this polymer/clay nanocoating makes this system very attractive in improving the fire safety of polyurethane foam used for insulating applications.
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