MXene/chitosan nanocoating for flexible polyurethane foam towards remarkable fire hazards reductions

Bo Lin (Co-first Author), Anthony Chun Yin Yuen (Co-first Author), Ao Li, Yang Zhang, Timothy Bo Yuan Chen, Bin Yu*, Eric Wai Ming Lee, Shuhua Peng, Wei Yang*, Hong-Dian Lu, Qing Nian Chan, Guan Heng Yeoh, Chun H. Wang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

227 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

MXene/chitosan nanocoating for flexible polyurethane foam (PUF) was prepared via layer-by-layer (LbL) approach. MXene (Ti3C2) ultra-thin nanosheets were obtained through etching process of Ti3AlC2 followed by exfoliation. The deposition of MXene/chitosan nanocoating was conducted by alternatingly immersing the PUF into a chitosan solution and a Ti3C2 aqueous dispersion, which resulted in different number of bilayers (BL) ranging from 2, 5 and 8. Owing to the utilization of ultra-thin Ti3C2 nanosheets, the weight gain was only 6.9% for 8 BL coating of PUF, which minimised the unfavourable impact on the intrinsic properties of PUF. The Ti3C2/chitosan coating significantly reduced the flammability and smoke releases of PUF. Compared with unmodified PUF, the 8 BL coating reduced the peak heat release rate by 57.2%, alongside with a 65.5% reduction in the total heat release. The 8 BL coating also showed outstanding smoke suppression ability with total smoke release decreased by 71.1% and peak smoke production rate reduced by 60.3%, respectively. The peak production of CO and CO2 gases also decreased by 70.8% and 68.6%, respectively. Furthermore, an outstanding char formation performance of 37.2 wt.% residue was obtained for 8 BL coated PUF, indicating the excellent barrier and carbonization property of the hybrid coating.

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Article number120952
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume381
Online published31 Jul 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Jan 2020

Research Keywords

  • Chitosan
  • Fire safety
  • Layer-by-layer deposition
  • MXene
  • Nanocoating

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