Investigation of the synergy in intumescent polyurethane by 3D computed tomography

The morphology of carbonized materials resulting from an intumescence phenomenon was studied. The investigated material is a polyurethane matrix filled either by 30 wt.-% of ammonium polyphosphate or by a combination of 28 wt.-% of ammonium polyphosphate and 2 wt.-% of nano-magnesium oxide. These fillers were incorporated in the polyurethane directly during the synthesis step. The carbonized materials or char, are obtained in a specific fire scenario. Characterization of their morphology is carried out using X-ray computed tomography. The heat conductivity of the systems is additionally measured as a function of temperature in order to correlate structure and properties of the intumescent residues. The formation of different char structures with incorporation of magnesium oxide (in particular formation of bubbles of different size) is first evidenced. These observations are consistent with the heat conductivity data. Tomography images demonstrate that the intumescence process is a dynamic process since non degraded polymer is left at the beginning of the fire test, which is not the case for longer time. The dispersion of fillers has finally been investigated in the chars and it is evidenced different steps of intumescence's development in the material.