An investigation into waterborne intumescent coating with different fillers for steel application

Purpose Modification and/or improvement of intumescent coating system by incorporating water-borne resin with an appropriate combination of flame-retardant additives and four different fillers, TiO2, Al(OH)3, Mg(OH)2, and CaCO3. Design/methodology/approach Coating mixtures are characterized using Bunsen burner, TG analysis, LOI, SEM, static immersion bath, FTIR and adhesion tester. Findings Results showed that the combination of coating with CaCO3 filler significantly improved fire protection performance because of its thickest char layer and equilibrium temperature was 264 °C. Char layer showed a uniform dense foam structure on micrograph and this formulation had adhesion strength of 2.13 MPa, which indicates effectiveness of the interface adhesion on substrate. Conversely, the combination of coating with Al(OH)3 exhibited highest oxygen index of 35%, which resulted excellent flammability resistance. Research limitations/implications This paper discusses only the effect of mineral fillers on properties o...