Thermal Performance of Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polydimethylsiloxane Epoxy-based Intumescent Fire Retardant Coating

This study focused on the integration of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with phenol epoxy as binders for basalt fibre reinforced intumescent coatings. The main purpose of the study is to understand the synthesis of phenol-PDMS hybrid epoxy with reinforced intumescent coatings and to analyse the effects in fire retardation abilities of the coating. The characterization of the char formed also needs to be understood. The experiments that were conducted to fulfil all objectives included furnace test, fire test, X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared analysis (FTIR), and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). Samples were prepared by coating steel with the reinforced intumescent fire retardant coating synthesized with phenol-PDMS epoxy according to formulated weight percentages. It was found that the char produced by basalt fibre reinforced intumescent coating is stronger compared to unreinforced intumescent coating and prevents cracking of char. The furnace test recorded the highest char expansion was by EPB(0) at 17.0. From the fire test, the lowest average back temperature of steel substrate coated with intumescent coating was achieved by formulation EPB(4) at 102.2oC compared to uncoated mild steel plate which yielded a maximum temperature of 402.1oC. XRD analysis identifies the presence of sassolite, boron phosphate, carbon and boric acid. FTIR analysis revealed peaks in the silicone, B-O-P, O-H and nitrile regions which confirms the presence of the relevant compounds. TGA showed that the residual weight % of reinforced intumescent coatings were higher than unreinforced coatings. The highest residual weight % was displayed by EPPB(2) at 32.92% and the lowest was by EPB(1) at 24.34%