Investigation of the Effect of Fillers on the Properties of the Expanded Coke Layer of Epoxyamine Compositions

Abstract

Intumescent fire-retardant coatings based on epoxy resins, compared to traditional fireretardant compositions, have improved performance properties – high strength, chemical and atmospheric resistance, adhesion to many materials. However, unmodified epoxy polymers are combustible and to obtain IFR based on them, flame retardants and mineral fillers are added to their composition. Intumescent systems for flame retardant coatings based on epoxy oligomers (nonhalogen-containing) usually consist of ammonium or ammophos polyphosphate as an acidic agent and a wide range of fillers, both inert and gaseous, or which are an additional source of carbon. Each component of the fire-retardant intimate coating in different ways affects the processes of coke formation, which determines the requirements for their choice. Thus, the aim of this work is to conduct experimental studies of the dependence of the characteristics of the expanded coke layer on the composition of the intumescent epoxyamine composition. The results of experimental studies of the effect of ammonium polyphosphate and binary mixtures of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) with aluminum hydroxide (AH), sodium tetraborate decahydrate (STD), titanium oxide TiO2 (TO), pentaerythritol (P), aerosil (A) and expandable graphite are presented (EG) on the multiplicity of expanding and weight loss of epoxy compositions at study temperatures of 350, 400 and 450°C. Studies have shown that the production of intumescent flame retardant coatings based on epoxy oligomers is possible provided they are filled with ammonium polyphosphate in an amount of more than 20 mass parts. The most effective in terms of expanding are additives titanium oxide and aluminum hydroxide in an amount of 20 mass parts, which allows to obtain intumescent fireretardant coatings with a linear coefficient of expanding 30-32 and 24-27, respectively, throughout the range of temperatures. The obtained data are useful in the development of fire-retardant coatings based on epoxy oligomers.