Intumescence-based evaluation

All the above formulations have been investigated and evaluated on perforated and unperforated Celotex fiberboard. Results demonstrate that a satisfactorily formulated intumescent water- or oil-base paint is the best type of paint to apply to acoustical fiber board to secure optimum fire or flame resistance. These paints, by their intumescent nature, tend to close the openings in the acoustical fiber board and insulate the basic fiber under the coating. 

Andersson, A., Landmark, S., and Maurer, F.H.J. 2007. Evaluation and characterization of ammonium polyphosphate-pentaerythritol-based systems for intumescent coatings. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 104 748-753. 

In that way, the viscoelastic behavior of a PP-based intumescent formulation including polyurethane (PU) as carbon source in association with APP has been evaluated.30 The use of PU/APP mixture in PP brings a decrease in the peak heat release from 1700 kW/m2, in the case of the virgin matrix, to 300kW/m2, in the case of the intumescent formulation. 

Intumescence also has a role in the flame retardancy of textiles7 Recently, Horrocks et al. investigated the inclusion of nanoparticles in combination with intumescent flame retardants in polyamide-6 and polyamide-6,67 They suggest that the incorporation of nanoclay does not necessarily increase the LOI value when evaluated as film samples, but they showed the benefit of using nanoclay in polyamides when combined with APP-based formulations. The efficiency is increased by an average factor of 2. 

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