Passive fire protection of ligno-cellulosic substrates using environmentally-friendly formulations

Abstract Here we report on our preliminary investigations on the passive fire protection property of potato starch on some ligno-cellulosic substrates, in the context of protecting them when present as structural components at Wildland Urban Interfaces (WUIs), during forest fires. The fire retardant properties of the formulations were evaluated using Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and Bench-cone calorimetric measurements (BS 476-13: 1987). The results obtained have highlighted the efficiency of a potato starch coating, especially, in increasing the times to ignition, and also in reducing the flame intensities, thus warranting further investigations and developments in this area.