Innovative Flame-Retardant Coatings for High-Performance Materials

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 143

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
Interests: advanced flame retardant materials; functional coatings; flame-retardant mechanism; heat-resistant materials; environment-friendly and recyclable materials
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Guest Editor
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou, China
Interests: 3D printing flame retardant materials; flexible sensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The application of high-performance coating materials is crucial in sectors such as aerospace, electronics, construction, and transportation due to their superior attributes. However, their flammability significantly limits their broader utilization. To date, the incorporation of flame retardants has proven to be an effective strategy in enhancing the fire resistance of these coatings. To mitigate potential health and environmental concerns, it is imperative to fundamentally understand and develop coating materials with flame-retardant properties, as well as consider their impact on other crucial properties, including mechanical strength, thermal stability, smoke suppression, and processing characteristics.

This Special Issue of the journal Coatings, entitled "Innovative Flame-Retardant Coatings for High-Performance Materials" is dedicated to showcasing recent research and advancements in the preparation, properties, and applications of high-performance flame-retardant coatings.

Dr. Mingfeng Chen
Dr. Shuqiang Peng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • intumescent fire-retardant coatings
  • intrinsically flame-retardant coatings
  • flame-retardant coatings with multifunctional features
  • bio-sourced flame-retardant coatings
  • high-performance flame-retardant coatings

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 3967 KiB  
Article
A Thorough Investigation of the Mechanism of theAntagonistic Effect Between Phosphorus and Basic Oxide-Forming Minerals as Flame Retardants of PolymericComposite Coatings
by Evangelia Mitropoulou, Georgios N. Mathioudakis, Amaia Soto Beobide, Athanasios Porfyris, Vassilios Dracopoulos, Kerim Kılınç, Theodosios Chatzinikolaou, Deniz Savci, Cem Gunesoglu, Joannis Kallitsis and George A. Voyiatzis
Coatings 2025, 15(8), 886; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15080886 - 30 Jul 2025
Abstract
Halogenated flame retardants have been amongst the most widely used and effective solutions for enhancing fire resistance. However, their use is currently strictly regulated due to serious health and environmental concerns. In this context, phosphorus-based and mineral flame retardants have emerged as promising [...] Read more.
Halogenated flame retardants have been amongst the most widely used and effective solutions for enhancing fire resistance. However, their use is currently strictly regulated due to serious health and environmental concerns. In this context, phosphorus-based and mineral flame retardants have emerged as promising alternatives. Despite this, their combined use is neither straightforward nor guaranteed to be effective. This study scrutinizes the interactions between these two classes of flame retardants (FR) through a systematic analysis aimed at elucidating the antagonistic pathways that arise from their coexistence. Specifically, this study focuses on two inorganic fillers, mineral huntite and chemically precipitated magnesium hydroxide, both of which produce basic oxides upon thermal decomposition. These fillers were incorporated into a poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) matrix to be utilized as advanced-mattress FR coating fabric and were subjected to a series of flammability tests. The pyrolysis products of the prepared polymeric composite compounds were isolated and thoroughly characterized using a combination of analytical techniques. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermogravimetric analysis (dTGA) were employed to monitor decomposition behavior, while the char residues collected at different pyrolysis stages were examined spectroscopically, using FTIR-ATR and Raman spectroscopy, to identify their structure and the chemical reactions that led to their formation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were also conducted to complement the spectroscopic findings in the chemical composition of the resulting char residues and to pinpoint the different species that constitute them. The morphological changes of the char’s structure were monitored by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Finally, the Limited Oxygen Index (LOI) and UL94 (vertical sample mode) methods were used to assess the relative flammability of the samples, revealing a significant drop in flame retardancy when both types of flame retardants are present. This reduction is attributed to the neutralization of acidic phosphorus species by the basic oxides generated during the decomposition of the basic inorganic fillers, as confirmed by the characterization techniques employed. These findings underscore the challenge of combining organophosphorus with popular flame-retardant classes such as mineral or basic metal flame retardants, offering insight into a key difficulty in formulating next-generation halogen-free flame-retardant composite coatings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Flame-Retardant Coatings for High-Performance Materials)
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