Premium
Fire protection of polypropylene and polycarbonate by intumescent coatings
Author(s) -
Jimenez M.,
Duquesne S.,
Bourbigot S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.1809
Subject(s) - intumescent , materials science , fire retardant , cone calorimeter , fire performance , composite material , polypropylene , coating , limiting oxygen index , polycarbonate , varnish , polymer , acrylic polymer , char , fire resistance , monomer , chemical engineering , pyrolysis , engineering
An innovative way to improve fire‐retardant properties of different polymers by applying intumescent coatings on their surface has been studied. Two polymers have been investigated: polypropylene and polycarbonate. The surfaces were first subjected to a flaming treatment in order to clean them and to increase their wettability and thus improve the adhesion of the coatings. Two different formulations were then applied: a transparent intumescent varnish, based on an acrylic resin, and an intumescent coating based on polyvinylacetate resin. Different parameters have been obtained using several fire tests. The cone calorimeter, the limiting oxygen index and UL94 tests have been carried out to evaluate the fire‐retardant properties obtained for both the intumescent coating and the intumescent varnish. Results clearly evidence an outstanding improvement of the fire‐retardant properties using intumescent coatings without any incorporation of flame retardants in the bulk. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.