Development of polymer-ceramic composites for improved fire resistance

Materials that provide protection of lives and property from fire are highly desirable across many industries. Conventional polymers are generally completely consumed in a fire situation and require either halogenated additives that give off toxic and corrosive gases with large volumes of smoke or high filler loadings of non-halogen based additives in order to impart fire resistance. Attention has been shifted to the area of ceramifiable polymers as a means of improving passive fire protection, and silicones have been shown to possess desirable properties on firing, such as a slow burning rate without a flaming drip and low emissions of non-toxic smoke. However, the ceramic formed by firing silicones alone is very weak and powdery. Addition of certain inorganic fillers improves the strength, giving a near-net shape ceramic. The fire protection properties of silicone and silicone-based composites are investigated at temperatures up to 1100 degreesC. The microstructure of the resultant ceramics has been studied and the mechanism for the conversion of silicone-based composites to ceramics is proposed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.