Electronic Supplementary Material
Aluminum Hydroxide Multilayer Assembly Capable of Extinguishing Flame on
Polyurethane Foam
Merid Haile, Sandra Fomete, Ilse D. Lopez, Jaime C. Grunlan
Table S1 Additional cone calorimeter results for polyurethane foam with and without nanocoatings
Uncoated
6 BL PEM
6 BL PEM-ATH
Weight
gain (%)
ATH in
coating (%)a
-
0
47
14  2
32  3
Time to
ignition
(s)
31
31
31
Total smoke
release (m2 m-2)
Carbon monoxide
production (kg/kg)
Carbon dioxide
production (kg/kg)
159  9
217  2
189  22
0.0241  0.0016
0.0250  0.0005
0.0243  0.0024
2.00  0.06
1.87  0.02
1.80  0.04
ATH was stabilized by ultrasonication in the presence of polyacrylic acid (PAA). The presence of
PAA stabilizes the ATH particles (Fig. S1).
Figure S1 ATH ultrasonicated in pH 4 water and left sitting for 2 h (left) and ATH ultrasonicated
in pH 4 solution containing 0.2% polyacrylic acid and left sitting for 2 h (right)
1
Fig. S2 shows TGA (a) and derivative TGA (b) curves for uncoated and coated foam, measured
under nitrogen atmosphere. These are very similar to measurements made in an oxidizing
atmosphere (Fig. 5), except that foam coated with PEM retains some char residue at high
temperature under nitrogen.
Figure S2 Representative weight loss as a function of temperature for coated and uncoated foam
(a) and rate of weight loss as a function temperature (b)
2
Fig. S3 shows DSC measurements of coated and uncoated foam. Foam coated with 6 BL PEMATH has an additional lower temperature peak corresponding to the decomposition of ATH.
0
Heat Flow (kW)
-2
-4
-6
-8
uncoated control
6BL PEM
6 BL PEM-ATH
-10
-12
-14
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Temperature (°C)
Figure S3 Heat flow as a function of temperature for samples measured with DSC
Figure S3 shows SEM micrographs of the 6 BL PEM-ATH after cone calorimetry. The porous structure of
the foam is somewhat preserved and it appears the residue itself is made up of aggregated alumina
particles.
Figure S4 SEM micrographs of cone calorimetry char residue of 6 BL PEM-ATH
3