Nanocoating shows potential as flame retardant
Friday, 19 August 2011
Carbon nanofibre-filled coatings outperformed conventional flame retardants used in the polyurethane foam of upholstered furniture and mattresses.
Fire-safety advantages may be gained by coating PUF with a club-sandwich-like arrangement of thin layers containing carbon nanofibres and polymers Source: Salmon - Fotolia.com
Gram for gram, novel carbon nanofibre-filled coatings devised by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Texas A&M University outperformed conventional flame retardants used in the polyurethane foam of upholstered furniture and mattresses by at least 160 percent and perhaps by as much as 1,130 percent. The impressive test results suggest that significant fire-safety advantages can be gained by coating polyurethane foam (PUF) with a club-sandwich-like arrangement of thin layers containing carbon nanofibres and polymers. The upshot, says NIST researcher Rick Davis, is that the experimental coating seems to create the equivalent of a "fire-resistant armour" on the porous foam. The new approach, says Davis, should be attractive to PUF manufacturers because the surface treatment has the potential to deliver a low flammability PUF without major change to the foam manufacturing process, thus saving time and money.
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