Scientific Reports (Feb 2021)

Experimental and numerical perspective on the fire performance of MXene/Chitosan/Phytic acid coated flexible polyurethane foam

  • Bo Lin,
  • Anthony Chun Yin Yuen,
  • Timothy Bo Yuan Chen,
  • Bin Yu,
  • Wei Yang,
  • Jin Zhang,
  • Yin Yao,
  • Shuying Wu,
  • Chun Hui Wang,
  • Guan Heng Yeoh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84083-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Recent discoveries of two-dimensional transitional metal based materials have emerged as an excellent candidate for fabricating nanostructured flame-retardants. Herein, we report an eco-friendly flame-retardant for flexible polyurethane foam (PUF), which is synthesised by hybridising MXene (Ti $$_3\hbox {C}_2$$ 3 C 2 ) with biomass materials including phytic acid (PA), casein, pectin, and chitosan (CH). Results show that coating PUFs with 3 layers of CH/PA/Ti $$_3\hbox {C}_2$$ 3 C 2 via layer-by-layer approach reduces the peak heat release and total smoke release by 51.1% and 84.8%, respectively. These exceptional improvements exceed those achieved by a CH/Ti $$_3\hbox {C}_2$$ 3 C 2 coating. To further understand the fundamental flame and smoke reduction phenomena, a pyrolysis model with surface regression was developed to simulate the flame propagation and char layer. A genetic algorithm was utilised to determine optimum parameters describing the thermal degradation rate. The superior flame-retardancy of CH/PA/Ti $$_3\hbox {C}_2$$ 3 C 2 was originated from the shielding and charring effects of the hybrid MXene with biomass materials containing aromatic rings, phenolic and phosphorous compounds.