title: Inorganic nanoparticle thin film that suppresses flammability of polyurethane with only a single electrostatically-assembled bilayer.
abstract: In an effort to reduce the flammability of polyurethane foam, a thin film of renewable inorganic nanoparticles (i.e., anionic vermiculite [VMT] and cationic boehmite [BMT]) was deposited on polyurethane foam via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. One, two, and three bilayers (BL) of BMT-VMT resulted in foam with retained shape after being exposed to a butane flame for 10 s, while uncoated foam was completely consumed. Cone calorimetry confirmed that the coated foam exhibited a 55% reduction in peak heat release rate with only a single bilayer deposited. Moreover, this protective nanocoating reduced total smoke release by 50% relative to untreated foam. This study revealed that 1 BL, adding just 4.5 wt % to PU foam, is an effective and conformal flame retardant coating. These results demonstrate one of the most efficient and renewable nanocoatings prepared using LbL assembly, taking this technology another step closer to commercial viability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Material Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University , College Station, Texas 77843, United States.
authors.forename: Debabrata
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patra
authors.forename: Prithvi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vangal
authors.forename: Amanda A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cain
authors.forename: Chungyeon
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Oren
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Regev
authors.forename: Jaime C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grunlan
keywords: boehmite; clay; flame retardant; layer-by-layer assembly; multilayer; polyurethane foam; vermiculite