The synergistic effect of copper/boron composite preservatives and intumescent fire-retardant coatings in fire protection and smoke suppression of wood

Abstract:

In southwest China, there are a large number of traditional bamboo and wood residential buildings with national characteristics, which are of great historical and cultural value. However, due to the flammability and susceptibility to the fungal attack of wood, it has a great potential safety hazard in daily life. Using fire-retardant coatings and preservatives has endowed wood with significantly improved safe performances, but the effects of dual treatments on the fire-retardant and smoke-suppression behavior of wood remain to be revealed. In this paper, a two-step treatment of wood with copper/boron composite preservatives (CBCP) and fire-resistant coatings was performed, and the flame-retardant and smoke-suppressive behaviors of treated wood were investigated. The results show that CBCP can suppress the release of heat and smoke by promoting the charring reaction to form a physical barrier on the wood surface. More importantly, the dual-treated wood has better flame retardant, thermal insulation properties and less smoke emission than the single fire treated wood, indicating that CBCP and fire-retardant coatings have a synergistic effect on improving wood fire safety.