Expanded Polystyrene Beads Coated with Intumescent Flame Retardant Material to Achieve Fire Safety Standards

Abstract

The compatibility and coating ratio between flame retardant materials and expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam is a major impediment to achieving satisfactory flame retardant performance. In this study, we prepared a water-based intumescent flame retardant system and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)-coated expandable polystyrene microspheres by a simple coating approach. We investigated the compatibility, coating ratio, and fire performance of EPS- and MDI-coated EPS foam using a water-based intumescent flame retardant system. The microscopic study revealed that the water-based intumescent flame retardant materials were successfully incorporated with and without MDI-coated EPS microspheres. The cone calorimeter tests (CCTs) of the MDI-coated EPS containing water-based intumescent flame retardant materials exhibited better flame retardant performance with a lower total heat release (THR) 7.3 MJ/m2, peak heat release rate (PHRR) 57.6 kW/m2, fire growth rate (FIGRA) 2027.067 W/m2.s, and total smoke production (TSP) 0.133 m2. Our results demonstrated that the MDI-coated EPS containing water-based intumescent flame retardant materials achieved flame retarding properties as per fire safety standards.

Synergistic Flame Retardant Properties of Polyoxymethylene with Surface Modified Intumescent Flame Retardant and Calcium Carbonate

“…Intumescent flame retardants (IFRs) are regarded as green and environment-friendly ones with the advantages of being halogen-free, low smoke, low toxicity, and no corrosive gas generation. They usually consist of dehydrating agents, char-forming agents, and blowing agents which act synergistically and make it more advantageous than the use of phosphorus-based and nitrogen-based flame retardants alone [ 17 , 18 ]. Phosphorus-containing flame retardants are often used as dehydrating agents, and nitrogen-based flame retardants are often used as foaming agents, so they are also called phosphorus-nitrogen IFRs.…”

An Effective Expanded Graphite Coating on Polystyrene Bead for Improving Flame Retardancy

“…Thus, 1 < FRI < 10 symbolized "good", and the FRI value in 10 < FRI < 100 indicated "excellent". All of [35][36][37][38] satisfied FRI > 1, and 44.1 was calculated as FRI value for [35]. The FRI values of FR-EPS satisfied 58.2~92.7, and it can be seen that FR-EPS had a more efficient flame retardant strategy than the improved polystyrene composites from the literature.…”

Characterization and Performance Testing of an Intumescent Nanoinhibitor for Inhibiting Coal Spontaneous Combustion

“… 21 Bhoite et al used the IFR to treat expanded polystyrene beads to improve their fire resistance. 22 Shiu et al compounded the IFR with raw lacquer to improve the fire resistance and thermal stability of the raw lacquer. 23 …”

“…21 Bhoite et al used the IFR to treat expanded polystyrene beads to improve their fire resistance. 22 Shiu et al compounded the IFR with raw lacquer to improve the fire resistance and thermal stability of the raw lacquer. 23 Although IFRs have many advantages, they also have disadvantages, such as low flame retardant efficiency and high consumption.…”

“…Qi et al found that the addition of an intumescent flame retardant system effectively improved the flame retardancy and thermal stability of the inhibitor . Bhoite et al used the IFR to treat expanded polystyrene beads to improve their fire resistance . Shiu et al compounded the IFR with raw lacquer to improve the fire resistance and thermal stability of the raw lacquer …”