FROM LIVING TO LAB
Developing novel fireproof material to protect our world from fires
Before our project began, a true story happened to our team member Zhongqi Xu attracted our
attention to fire accidents. During a whale watching tour, he witnessed a fire accident in
which not only did fierce smoke and burning flames devour a ship but also ignited the tarpaulin
of Xu's boat.
Although there was no danger in the end, the boat fire was put out in time and no casualty were caused,
this experience of escaping from fire left Xu a deep expression, and initiated our thinking about the
fire.Fire, brings human light and energy, along with fear and disasters, smoke, flame, tears.
In the last decades, fire has become a world-wide crucial security issue.
As the saying goes, to forestall is better than to amend. On one hand, the development of reliable
fire-retardant materials is the most valid weapon against fire. On the other hand, when firefighters
rush into the fire rescue, they also need more protection and guard. Fire clothing, as the focus of
continuous improvement in fire protection work, highly requires the development of lightweight,
waterproof and breathable fireproof fabrics, which is a significant role that new materials can play
for fire safety.
The research and development of fireproof materials has always been a hot spot in the research and
development of new materials.In the early stages of the project (2019.12),Our team members investigated
webpages of many fireproof material companies and interviewed the manager from Gesanghua Paint Company,
hoping to get some help and guidance for the overall idea of the project.
Interview with Gesanghua Paint Company
Our team members conducted interviews on the topic of fire-retardant coatings with Mr. Da Jiang,
the manager of Gesanghua Paint company. We widely consulted on the relevant aspects such as industry
situation, professional knowledge, equipment technology and market prospect.
As for the production technology of fire-proof materials, Mr. Jiang mentioned that many innovative
methods have been tried in the production process of his company. In order to realize fire-retardant
functions, the use of multiple materials replace single raw materials. Therefore, the key problem lies
in the proportion of mixed materials.
In terms of demand for fireproof materials, Mr. Jiang thinks that not only should they have certain fire
resistance characteristics, but also they should possess excellent performance in corrosion resistance
and strength. Moreover, the fireproof property of different material varies a lot. The fireproof level
of the material often determines its application field and what kind of fire prevention task it could
undertake. To sum up, different places often have diverse needs for fire-resistant materials. Therefore,
the research and development of fire-proof materials has a long way to go and cannot be taken in the
lump. At present, in this field, Mr. Jiang said that fireproof materials are still confronted with many
problems that need to be solved urgently. There is a lot of room for adjustment and improvement in the
process of production and use. This is also the vitality and core of the fire-proof material industry
currently. How to develop fire-retardant materials with more new types, more powerful functions, more
environmentally-friendly production process and more targeted application fields is the key issues,
which is also Mr. Jiang's expectation as a industry veteran.
The results of the preliminary investigation show that traditional fire proof materials cannot meet the various needs of current market, and there are still many pain points that can be improved. At present, the best-selling fireproof materials on the market can be divided into water-based and solvent-based based on the solubility of the coating itself, and can be divided into intumescent and non-expandable based on the foaming performance of the coating. The most common fireproof coatings are mainly inorganic materials represented by calcium carbonate, vermiculite, perlite, etc., and coagulants-resins, flame retardants-ammonium polyphosphate, blowing agents-melamine, solvents-poly Pentyleneerythritol, etc. is used as a set of organic materials in a flame retardant system.
Traditional flame-retardant materials still have shortcomings and drawbacks that need to be resolved in many aspects:
On one hand, the durability of materials is also an issue that cannot be ignored. This material is often used on the surface of buildings, cables, clothing, etc., and the contact surface with the external environment is relatively large. The effects of natural weathering, exposure, rain erosion, and acid-base corrosion in special environments are extremely important for its fire resistance. test. At the same time, many human factors also affect its durability. For example, a fire-resistant garment needs to be able to maintain a certain degree of fire resistance even after repeated washings. If a material cannot achieve good durability, it is difficult to escape the fate of being eliminated.
On the other hand, the scalability of the material is not strong, and the application field is single. Some materials are relatively stable in nature, but have few surface active groups, or the material structure is difficult to modify... Various reasons make it difficult to properly combine with other materials, making them only applicable to the single field of fire retardant coatings , Can not properly combine with other organic biological macromolecules, the competitiveness of the material will be slightly inferior.
In addition to the above aspects, more superior flame retardancy and fire resistance, thermal stability, material strength and other aspects also need to be further strengthened. Therefore, it is urgent to develop novel fire proof materials. And we believe that our idea of “novel biosynthesis organic-inorganic materials” and the success of engineering and project will make the world a better place.