Reduced Flammability of Polyurethane Foam Using a Carbon Nanofiber-based Multilayer Nanocoating

Published

April 10, 2011

Author(s)

Yeon S. Kim, Rick D. Davis, Jaime C. Grunlan, Amanda A. Cain

Abstract

For the first time, Layer-by-layer (LbL) assemblies made with carbon nanofiber (CNFs) are shown to improve the fire performance 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 % CNFs. 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 (55% ± 6% reduction in total heat release and peak heat release rate). This reduction is 50% better than previously reported for CNF-filled foam and 12% to 47% greater than the other most commonly used technologies for reducing foam flammability.

Citation

Polymer

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Layer-by-layer assembly, thin films, carbon nanofibers, polyurethane foam, Cone Calorimetry, flammability, soft furnishings

Citation

Kim, Y. , Davis, R. , Grunlan, J. and Cain, A. (2011), Reduced Flammability of Polyurethane Foam Using a Carbon Nanofiber-based Multilayer Nanocoating, Polymer, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=906819 (Accessed October 7, 2025)