In an effort to create an environmentally-friendly flame retardant (FR) system for foam and fabric, layer-by-layer (LbL) thin films were assembled using �green� materials obtained from completely renewable sources. Positively- charged chitosan paired with anionic montmorillonite clay nanoplatelets was deposited on open-celled polyurethane foam. This coating completely stops the melting of a flexible polyurethane foam, when exposed to direct flame from a butane torch, with just 10 bilayers (~ 30 nm thick and only 4 wt% addition to the foam). Cone calorimetry confirms that this coated foam exhibited a reduced peak heat release rate, by as much as 52%, relative to the uncoated control. These results demonstrate the first truly �green� LbL flame retardant and set the stage for a new class of FR nanocoatings.

Completely renewable flame retardant thin films

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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