Smoke suppression properties of epoxy crosslinked structure and intumescent fire retardant in epoxy‐based intumescent fire‐retardant coating

In this article, the smoke production behaviors of crosslinked epoxy/polyamide resin (EP/PA) and intumescent fire retardant (IFR) in epoxy‐based intumescent fire‐retardant coating (IFR‐EP) have been investigated using cone calorimeter, smoke density instrument, and thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic measurement. The static and dynamic smoke production behaviors of EP/PA and IFR‐EP indicate that the IFR has an excellent smoke suppression effect on EP/PA by forming protective char layer in the late combustion stage, while the epoxy crosslinked structure in IFR‐EP can enhance the thermal stability and reduce smoke production in the early combustion stage. In addition, according to the discussion of pyrolysis gas products, the IFR can effectively suppress the production of toxic and inflammable gases during the combustion process. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43912.     

Functional polyelectrolyte multilayer assemblies for surfaces with controlled wetting behavior

Controlled wetting at surfaces and interfaces is an important area of research with numerous potential commercial applications. Both superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity can be used to enable applications such as self‐cleaning, dropwise condensation, or antifogging. Many strategies for creating such surfaces center around biomimicry, replicating the structure of the lotus leaf, for example. Given the potential impact, creating surfaces with these properties using any number of fabrication is of great interest. One very promising fabrication technique, however, for creating these surfaces is the layer‐by‐layer (LbL)‐directed self‐assembly of polyelectrolytes and other charged materials. LbL is a sequential adsorption technique wherein a surface is exposed to first a solution of one charge and then a solution of the opposite charge. LbL has many advantages, including the ability to incorporate many different types of materials and therefore functionality, the ability to conformally coat substrates of complex geometry, and environmentally friendly aqueous processing. This review describes recent progress in using LbL to create surfaces with controlled wetting. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42767.     

Imitation-mussel-based high-performance conductive coating on hydrophobic fabric for thermochromic application

On the basis of mussel inspiration, a common and low-cost method for preparing a high-performance poly-3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene (PEDOT) coating was proposed. First, cheap imitation-mussel tannin–iron materials with universal adhesion properties were used as a modified coating on hydrophobic polypropylene nonwoven fabric. Because of the excellent wettability and ion chelating properties of the modified coating, a high-performance PEDOT coating was successfully prepared later without complicated and expensive equipment. The PEDOT coating, with a conductivity of above 50 S/cm, could successfully realize the electric–thermal conversion at an appropriate current, and then, an obvious thermochromic effect on a pattern occurred; this is the key to achieving the functional textiles. The role of the artificial mussel adhesion materials in the modified coating were analyzed and are discussed. The results of this study provide new insight into preparing highly conductive coatings at low cost with potential practical applications in many fields. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47751.     

Effects of expandable graphite on char morphology and pyrolysis of epoxy based intumescent fire-retardant coating

The current study was designed to investigate the effects of expandable graphite (EG) on fire protection properties of intumescent fire-retardant coating for steel structures. Several formulations of intumescent coating were prepared and tested according to ISO 834 for char expansion. The chars were found without cracks and bonded with the steel substrate. The results showed that the coating slowly degraded during the test and char remained in contact with vertically tested coated substrate. The coated substrates were also tested for weather resistance using humid and ultraviolet environment. The char was characterized by using FESEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA, and XPS analysis. FESEM examined char morphology of the coatings after furnace fire test. XRD and FTIR showed the presence of graphite, borophosphate; boron oxide and sassolite in the char. TGA and DTGA results disclosed that EG improved the residual mass of coating. XPS analysis showed the percentages of carbon and oxygen are 48.50 and 43.45 in char of formulation with 12.8% EG. The results of weathering test coatings showed decreased in char expansion because of a humidity and UV light. The formulation with 9.8% EG showed the maximum char expansion and high residual mass among the formulations investigated in this study. The weathering tested coated samples showed their capability of fire protection.     

A facile one‐step synthesis of flame‐retardant coatings on cotton fabric via ultrasound irradiation

This article reports a facile one‐step methodology to increase fire resistance properties of cotton fabric. The flame‐retardant coating for cotton fabric was synthesized with methyltriethoxysilane and organophosphates (M102B) through an ultrasound irradiation process. The coating structure and surface morphology of uncoated and coated fabrics were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope, respectively. The flame‐retardant properties, bending modulus, air permeability and thermal stability were studied by vertical burning test, cantilever method, air permeability test and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). As a result, the cotton fabric coated with 29.2% (mass increased) of flame‐retardant coating was able to balance the flame retardant property and wearing comfort of the fabrics. The TGA results showed that the residue char of cotton was greatly enhanced after treatment with the coating, which has a high char forming effect on cellulose during testing. Furthermore, flame‐retardant property of coated fabrics did not change significantly after 10 washing cycles. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45114.     

Microintumescent mechanism of flame‐retardant water‐based chitosan–ammonium polyphosphate multilayer nanocoating on cotton fabric

Layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly of nanocoatings on fabric substrates has been very successful in terms of reduction of flammability. In particular, an LbL system comprised ammonium polyphosphate as the polyanion and chitosan as the polycation, applied to cotton fabric, dramatically reduced cotton flammability. At this point, the fire‐retardant (FR) mechanism of action of this system has never been fully elucidated. Sonicated and nonsonicated coated cotton fabrics were evaluated using a vertical flame test and mass loss calorimeter. Coating morphology was investigated before and after burning. Thermal analyses and chemical analyses in the condensed phase (and in the gas phase) were conducted to reveal the FR mechanism of action. At the cotton surface, a combination of both condensed (formation of aromatic char) and gas phase (release of water and highly flammable gases) mechanisms impart the FR behavior, promoting a kind of “microintumescence” phenomenon. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43783.     

Improving the flame retardant properties of polyester-cotton blend fabrics by introducing an intumescent coating via layer by layer assembly

Layer by layer (LBL) assembly technique was used to deposit multilayer coating containing phosphorus-nitrogen onto the surface of fibers to improve the flame retardancy of polyester-cotton (PET-COT) blended fabric. Ellipsometer results confirmed that polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH), melamine (MEL), and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) grew linearly on silicon wafer during the LbL process. The LOI value of coated PET-COT fabric was increased from 20.8% of pristine fabric to 28.4% by the presence of about 9 wt% coating. Besides, this intumescent nanocoated PET-COT fabric was self-distinguished during the vertical burning test. Thermogravimetric analysis under both nitrogen and air atmosphere revealed that the initial degradation temperature of the coated sample was decreased and the char residue amount was significantly improved during combustion. The flame resistance performance evaluation by pyrolysis combustion flow calorimeter indicated that this coating effectively reduced the peak heat release rate of PET-COT matrix. The scanning electron micrographs of char residue demonstrated that the char formation in the condensed phase and free radical caption in the gas phase was responsible for the improved flame retardancy. It is suggested this unique facile coating technology with low cycles and high efficiency has great potential to produce commercially available flame retardant polymeric-cotton blend fabrics.     

Effect of boric acid and melamine on the intumescent fire‐retardant coating composition for the fire protection of structural steel substrates

Intumescent coating is an insulating material designed to decrease heat transfer to a substrate structure. The coating presented in this research article was based on expandable graphite, ammonium polyphosphate, melamine, and boric acid. Bisphenol A epoxy resin BE‐188 was used as a binder with ACR hardener H‐2310 polyamide amine. Different formulations were developed to study the effect of expansion and heat shielding after fire testing. The coating was tested at 950°C for 1 h. The results show that the coating was stable and well bonded with the substrate. The coating was characterized with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, Parkin Elmer, Norwalk, CT, 06859, USA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR, Nicolet 400 D Shimadzu spectrometer) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD, Bruker D8 advance Diffracto meter, Bruker Germany), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Carl Zeiss Leo 1430VP, UK). The morphology of char was studied by SEM on the coating after fire testing. XRD and FTIR spectroscopy showed the presence of graphite, boron phosphate, boron oxide, and sassolite in the residual char. TGA (Pyris 1, manufactured by Parkin Elmer, Norwalk, CT, 06859, USA) and differential thermal gravimetric analysis (DTGA) showed that boric acid enhanced the residual weight of the intumescent fire‐retardant coating. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Microwave‐assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticles on cotton fabric modified with 3‐aminopropyltrimethoxysilane

In this study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized on cotton fabric modified with 3‐aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) using sodium citrate as a reducing/stabilizing agent by microwave‐assisted process. The presence of a highly oriented amino‐terminated self‐assembled monolayer and formation of APTMS was demonstrated by an X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The silver‐coated cotton fabrics were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX). UV protection, antistatic, and hydrophobic properties were also evaluated. The results show that silver‐coated fabric modified with APTMS possesses excellent antistatic, UV protection with ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of 396.5 and superhydrophobic properties with contact angle of 153.2°. APTMS pretreatment improves the adhesive strength between silver coatings and cotton fabric. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3862–3868, 2013     

Synthesis of novel pyridinium N‐chloramine precursors and its antimicrobial application on cotton fabrics

To control pathogenic microbial contamination on polymeric material surface, it is pivotal to develop materials with efficacious antimicrobial activity. Two pyridinium N‐chloramine precursors containing a siloxane handle were synthesized, characterized, and grafted onto cotton fabrics. The attenuated total reflectance spectra and scanning electron microscope photo analysis indicated that the cotton fabric surface was successfully modified. The resultant chlorinated fabric samples were challenged against bacteria Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. Results showed that: (1) the surface modified cotton fabrics displayed satisfactory biocidal efficacy; (2) the precursor structure played a major role on surface grafting and antibacterial activity. This work provides two promising pyridinium N‐chloramine precursors which hold potential application for preparing antibacterial textile materials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45323.     

The influence of coating with aminopropyl triethoxysilane and CuO/Cu2O nanoparticles on antimicrobial activity of cotton fabrics under dark conditions

A novel impregnation process for the fabrication of cotton nanocomposite with strong antimicrobial activity against antibiotics-resistant bacteria and yeast was developed. The impregnation process includes the sol–gel treatment of fabric with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane in the first step, and synthesis of the CuO/Cu₂O nanoparticles (NPs) on the fabric surface in the second step. The in situ synthesis of the CuO/Cu₂O NPs was based on the adsorption of Cu²⁺-ions by the introduced amino groups of the sol–gel coating. The adsorbed Cu²⁺-ions are subsequently reduced in the alkaline solution of NaBH₄. X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the formation of CuO/Cu₂O NPs. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic absorption spectrometry analyses indicate that the particle size, agglomeration, and amounts of synthesized NPs were highly affected by the initial concentration of CuSO₄ solution. The toxicity of nanocomposites to human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, E. coli ATCC BAA 2469, and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC BAA 2146, and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, S. aureus ATCC 43300 and yeast Candida albicans ATCC 24433 strongly depended on the copper content. In addition to excellent antimicrobial activity, controlled release of Cu²⁺-ions from the fabrics into physiological saline solution was obtained.     

Multifunctional coatings created using an antimicrobial polymer as a platform for titania precipitation on cotton

Titania precipitation on cotton has been achieved using a commercially available antimicrobial polymer, Reputex 20. The cotton swatches precipitated with titania retain antimicrobial activity, and we have also shown the ability to encapsulate diisopropylfluorophosphatase (DFPase), an enzyme capable of breaking down organofluorophosphates. Cotton swatches are easily prepared and precipitation occurs at room temperature in aqueous solutions at neutral pH. Both the antimicrobial properties of Reputex 20 and the hydrolytic activity of the DFPase enzyme are retained after titania precipitation, generating a cotton material exhibiting multifunctional properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43199.     

Comparison of polyelectrolyte and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate as dispersants for multiwalled carbon nanotubes on cotton fabrics for electromagnetic interference shielding

Cotton fabrics with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed by Nafion, a polyelectrolyte, and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), a surfactant, were prepared for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. The fabrics were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and vector network analysis. The fabrics with the Nafion–MWCNT coating possessed a better shielding efficiency (SE) than those with the SDBS–MWCNT coating because of a more uniform dispersion of MWCNTs, which improved the electrical conductivity and EMI shielding properties. The maximum SE value of the fabric reached 11.48 dB, and the specific SE was 39.6 dB cm³/g. The reflectivity and absorptivity were calculated separately to determine the main mechanism of EMI shielding. The absorptivity was 68.6% at 12 GHz for the Nafion–MWCNT‐coated fabric; this showed that the dominant mechanism of EMI shielding for the treated fabrics was absorption. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40588.     

A facile dip‐coating approach to prepare SiO2/fluoropolymer coating for superhydrophobic and superoleophobic fabrics with self‐cleaning property

In this study, a facile, two‐step dip‐coating approach was reported for the fabrication of the superhydrophobic and superoleophobic cotton fabrics. It was confirmed that the superhydrophobic and superoleophobic composite thin film containing modified‐SiO₂ nanoparticles and fluoropolymer had been successfully fabricated on the cotton fabrics surface, the results demonstrated that the treated cotton fabrics showed good performances, such as superhydrophobicity and superoleophobicity, low water and oil absorption ability, self‐cleaning property and good laundering durability, so forth. The above approach can be applied to potentially advance superhydrophobic and superoleophobic fabrics materials for a variety of applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41458.     

A systematic study on the effects of doping agents on polypyrrole coating of fabrics

Polypyrrole is widely used as coating to produce electrically conductive textiles. Counter‐ions (i.e. doping agents) were embedded in polypyrrole to improve electrical conductivity. Good electrical performances are required for several applications, such as microwave attenuation/electro‐magnetic interference shielding, heat generation, electro‐static discharge protection, sensing, and energy storage. In this work, a systematic study was carried out on the effects of doping agents in coating cotton fabrics with a thin polypyrrole layer. A total of 11 compounds were selected and compared as counter‐ions. The electrical performances of the coated fabrics were assessed with measures of electrical conductivity. Moreover, evenness and morphology of the resulting polypyrrole layer were discussed. As the final result, the best performances in terms of electrical conductivity (i.e. low surface resistivity) were measured using on dicyclohexyl sulfosuccinate, 2,6‐naphthalenedisulfonate or 1,5‐naphthalenedisulfonate as doping agents. The weight increases after polypyrrole deposition on the fabrics were greater than 15% and polypyrrole deposited on the fibers as a uniform film. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 132, 42831.     

Effect of plasma duty cycle on silver nanoparticles loading of cotton fabrics for durable antibacterial properties

A facile method for strongly anchoring silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) onto cotton fabrics was reported. It consists in loading AgNPs onto the cotton fiber preliminary coated with maleic anhydride plasma polymer layer. This results in hydrolyzis and ring opening of anhydride groups followed by electrovalent bonding of silver ions and reduction in NaBH₄. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to analyze changes in the surface chemical composition and morphology of the plasma modified fibers. The presence of AgNPs was confirmed by UV–Visible spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. Remarkably, varying plasma duty cycle for plasma polymer deposition allowed tailoring the amount of loaded AgNPs. The highest amount of AgNPs was obtained with the lowest duty cycle values. Qualitative tests showed that silver containing plasma modified cotton displays significant antibacterial activity. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41279.     

A novel approach to excellent UV protecting cotton fabric with functionalized MWNT containing water vapor permeable PU coating

This research paper presented a novel approach of developing excellent protection from ultraviolet (UV) radiation of cotton fabrics by means of water vapor permeable (WVP) coatings containing multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT), a stable and strongly UV absorbing species. The WVP of MWNT containing UV protective coatings of the present development are formed from solution polymer of hydrophilic polyurethane (HPU). MWNTs were dispersed in HPU solution by functionalization of MWNT. The nanotube containing HPU coating shows excellent protection against UV radiation, with only 1 wt % of MWNT (calculated based on solid content of the polymer), a UV Protection Factor (UPF) of 174 and with 2.5 wt % of MWNT a UPF of 421 was obtained, which stated excellent protection (UPF ≥50) according to the Australian/New Zealand standards. Scanning electron micrographs of coated fabrics surface showed a film like polymer coating, confirming the fabric surface was successfully coated by polyurethane. The coated fabrics would maintain very good water vapor permeability, hence confirmed the wearing comfort. Room temperature (20–23°C) range soft segment crystal melting of HPU enhances the permeability of coated fabrics. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3370–3376, 2007     

Influence of external heat flux and coating thickness on the thermal insulation properties of two different intumescent coatings using cone calorimeter and numerical analysis

Polymeric intumescent coatings are fire protective materials that increase their thermal resistance when exposed to high temperatures to prevent building structures from damage. The idea of the investigation was to develop a simple test method to determine the time dependent thermal conductivity of intumescent coatings. Therefore steel plates were coated with two different intumescent systems. During cone calorimeter tests the temperature at the back side of the coated plates was measured. These results were used to calculate the time dependent thermal resistance of the protective layer with the simulation program IOPT2D for different external heat fluxes and different layer thickness. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel design for water-based modified epoxy coating with anti-corrosive application properties

In this study, a polysulfide rubber emulsion was synthesized through the pre-emulsification of polysulfide rubber by mixed-emulsifiers and polyvinyl alcohol as a weight stabilizer and the emulsification by adding deionized water dropwise at a speed of 1 ml/min, stirring at a speed of 1500 rpm and adjusting pH to 8 by ammonia. The epoxy coating was modified by the polysulfide rubber emulsion. The anticorrosive coating was prepared by using waterborne amine dispersion as a curing agent and polysulfide rubber as a modifier. It had a good chemical resistance and excellent overall mechanical performance. The coatings were characterized by Tafel polarization curves and Scanning electron microscope.     

Enhanced adhesion of conductive coating on plasma‐treated polyester fabric: A study on the ageing effect

In recent years, there has been growing attention on intrinsically conducting polymers, such as polypyrrole (PPy) because of the wide range of possible applications. Adhesion to other materials is a pending problem that could be tackled by enhancing the chemical affinity of the surface toward PPy coating. In this work, low‐temperature plasma pretreatments were used for improving adhesion of PPy on polyester (PET) fabrics by changing the surface chemistry and generating a microscopically rough surface. Oxygen and argon plasmas were used to treat both sides of PET fabrics before PPy deposition by in situ chemical polymerization. Moreover, PPy depositions were performed 1 h, 1 week, and 1 month after the plasma treatments to study possible ageing effects. Different chemical/physical characterizations (contact angle, surface energy, atomic force microscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy) showed the efficacy of plasma pretreatments in inducing wettability on PET fabrics and promoting adhesion of the PPy layer. The enhanced adhesion was confirmed by abrasion tests and subsequent surface resistivity and color measurements. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012