Polyurethane coatings based on linseed oil phosphate ester polyols with intumescent flame retardants

Abstract

SummaryThe effect of intumescent flame retardants on the properties of polyurethane (PU) coatings based on 2 kinds of phosphate ester polyol was studied. Synthesizing polyols, phosphorylation of epoxidized linseed oil with phosphoric acid was performed in the presence of isopropyl alcohol (IPA polyol) or diethylene glycol butyl ether (DGBE polyol). The obtained polyols were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The properties of neat PU coatings based on 2 polyols and those filled with different content (up to 25 wt%) of melamine (Mel), ammonium polyphosphate (APP), and expandable graphite (EG) were studied using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and tensile and cone calorimeter tests. It was found that IPA polyol contained not only phosphate monoesters and diesters, as DGBE polyol, but also phosphate triester and pyrophosphate monoester. Due to this difference, IPA neat and filled coatings had higher tensile characteristics and char residue in a TGA test. Also, the flame retardancy of IPA coatings, compared with that of DGBE coatings, was higher. In a cone calorimeter test, coatings filled with Mel showed a small increase of flame retardancy, but the total smoke release (TSR) of wood samples with coatings decreased noticeably. The effect of APP on the flame retardancy of coatings was higher, but in contrast, the TSR of samples increased with increasing APP content. Even greater decrease of flammability parameters and a simultaneous significant decrease of TSR were shown by the samples with IPA coatings filled with EG.