Expanded Polystyrene Beads Coated with Intumescent Flame Retardant Material to Achieve Fire Safety Standards

The compatibility and coating ratio between flame retardant materials and expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam is a major impediment to achieving satisfactory flame retardant performance. In this study, we prepared a water-based intumescent flame retardant system and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)-coated expandable polystyrene microspheres by a simple coating approach. We investigated the compatibility, coating ratio, and fire performance of EPS- and MDI-coated EPS foam using a water-based intumescent flame retardant system. The microscopic study revealed that the water-based intumescent flame retardant materials were successfully incorporated with and without MDI-coated EPS microspheres. The cone calorimeter tests (CCTs) of the MDI-coated EPS containing water-based intumescent flame retardant materials exhibited better flame retardant performance with a lower total heat release (THR) 7.3 MJ/m2, peak heat release rate (PHRR) 57.6 kW/m2, fire growth rate (FIGRA) 2027.067 W/m2.s, and total smoke production (TSP) 0.133 m2. Our results demonstrated that the MDI-coated EPS containing water-based intumescent flame retardant materials achieved flame retarding properties as per fire safety standards.