Thermal Analysis and Identification of Potential Fire-proof Energy Building Material Based on Artificial Leather

Artificial leather fire-proof materials have obtained a good market due to stable production quality and low production price. Three kinds of artificial leather materials (polyvinyl chloride artificial leather (PVC), polyurethane artificial leather (PU) and polyurethane/polyvinyl chloride artificial leather (PU/PVC)) have been investigated, and then seven analysis methods were introduced to identify the materials. Thermo-gravimetric analysis indicated the materials had fine thermal stability. Fire-proof testing revealed the artificial leather materials had good flame retardancy, which could improve the applicability of fire-proof building materials. Tearing examination results indicated that there was a clear distinction between PVC and PU. The PU displayed significant differences compared with PVC or PVC/PU through pH indicator to observe the color of the pyrolysis gas aqueous solution. The dissolution tests results showed that cyclohexanone, dichloromethane and dimethylformamide (DMF) were efficient solvents that could be used for identifying PVC, PU and PU/PVC. The ATR-FTIR, a way to provide the high discriminating ability for identifying artificial leathers, indicated that the artificial leathers had different infrared characteristic peaks. In addition, the main compositive materials of the artificial leathers could be inferred by the relative contents analysis of N and Cl in artificial leathers.