Intumescent paints: fire protective coatings for metallic substrates

This study investigates the role of the binder in an intumescent paint. In fact, it is generally known that acid source, carbon source and blowing agent are the main ingredients of such a paint. However, since the binder may react with these ingredients, it is also a very important component of an intumescent paint. To begin with, the effect of the nature of the monomers composing the polymeric binder, on the chemical reactivity between the binder and the intumescent additives is investigated using thermogravimetric analysis, solid state NMR and FTIR analysis. It is found that the thermal stability increases when the copolymer is based on substituted styrene. Subsequently, the efficiency of protective behaviour of the intumescent coatings is evaluated varying the nature of the binder resin. It is found that the thermal insulation is greatly improved when using a mixture of a linear copolymer presenting a good reactivity with the acid source and a cross-linked copolymer as binder in the intumescent paint. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.