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. 2021 Aug 27;13(17):2884.
doi: 10.3390/polym13172884.

Innovative Polyelectrolyte Treatment to Flame-Retard Wood

Marie Soula  1   2   3 , Fabienne Samyn  3 , Sophie Duquesne  3 , Véronic Landry  1   2
Affiliations

Innovative Polyelectrolyte Treatment to Flame-Retard Wood

Marie Soula et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Fire protection has been a major challenge in wood construction for many years, mainly due to the high flame spread risk associated with wood flooring. Wood fire-retardancy is framed by two main axes: coating and bulk impregnation. There is a growing need for economically and environmentally friendly alternatives. The study of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) for wood substrates is in its infancy, but PECs' versatility and eco-friendly character are already recognized for fabric fire-retardancy fabrics. In this study, a new approach to PEC characterization is proposed. First, PECs, which consist of polyethyleneimine and sodium phytate, were chemically and thermally characterized to select the most promising systems. Then, yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) was surface-impregnated under reduced pressure with the two PECs identified as the best options. Overall, wood fire-retardancy was improved with a low weight gain of 2 wt.% without increasing water uptake.

Keywords: fire-retardancy; polyelectrolyte complex; wood protection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Branched polyethyleneimine (a) and sodium phytate (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of PEC deposition method.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Spectra of sodium phytate (SPA), branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) andcitric acid (CA).
Figure 4
Figure 4
FTIR spectra of PEC_1:1 pre- and post-acidification.
Figure 5
Figure 5
FTIR spectra of solutions of different PEI:SPA ratios after acidification.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Absorbance over time for PECs after acid addition.
Figure 7
Figure 7
TG (left) and DTG (right) curves for PEI:SPA at different ratios under N2.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Summary of weight gain, phosphorus content, and depth of impregnation for treated samples.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Heat release rate curves of yellow birch depending on the PEI:SPA ratio.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Observations of cone calorimeter residues: Reference (left), YB treated PEI: SPA 1:2 (center), and YB treated PEI: SPA 1:3 (right).
Figure 11
Figure 11
TG (left) and DTG (right) curves for reference YB and treated YB with different PEC.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Isotherms for reference yellow birch and treated yellow birch with two different PEC ratios.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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