A variety of effective flame retardant technologies currently exist to combat fires. One such technology is the passive flame protection method known as an intumescent coating, in which a voluminous char expands from the coating to create a protective, insulative layer between the flame source and the underlying material. Commonly applied to load-bearing steel beams, these coatings are widely used commercially. However, a number of the components of these coatings are derived from non-renewable resources, notably the char-forming chemicals. With a societal shift towards 'greener' technologies, our group sought to create coatings that are effective, scalable, and greener. To that end, a number of biomass sources were identified that display promise as char-forming components of intumescent coatings. These materials are byproducts of industrial processes that have few uses. Here we show that incorporation of these biomass char-formers into intumescent coatings creates composites that perform comparably to those that use non-renewable char-formers. First, the biomass samples were evaluated on the powder scale, both structurally and thermally. Upon proper characterization, they were incorporated into composite coatings and evaluated via cone calorimetry. Research presented in this work is aimed to push the flame retardant field in a more sustainable direction.

Greener intumescent coatings derived from biomass-based char-formers

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.