Development of layer-by-layer assembled carbon nanofiber-filled coatings to reduce polyurethane foam flammability Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Layer-by-layer (LbL) assemblies made with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are shown to reduce the flammability of polyurethane foam. The 359 36 nm thick four bilayer coating of polyethyleneimine/CNF (cationic layer) and poly(acrylic acid) (anionic layer) contains 51 1 mass fraction % CNF. This coating completely covers the entire internal and external surfaces of the porous foam. Even though the microscopic CNF distribution was non-uniform, the macroscopic CNF network armor that was generated from this LbL process significantly reduced the flammability of the foam (e.g., 40% 3% reduction in peak heat release rate). Normalized by flame retardant concentration, the reduction in foam peak heat release due to these CNF coatings is 38% larger than CNF embedded in the foam and as high as 1138% greater than other commercial technologies used to reduce foam flammability. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

published proceedings

  • POLYMER

altmetric score

  • 12

author list (cited authors)

  • Kim, Y. S., Davis, R., Cain, A. A., & Grunlan, J. C.

citation count

  • 115

complete list of authors

  • Kim, Yeon Seok||Davis, Rick||Cain, Amanda A||Grunlan, Jaime C

publication date

  • June 2011