Biomass adenosine triphosphate filler for improving the fire resistance and smoke suppression of intumescent coatings

In recent years, green environment protection has received widespread research interest. In this study, a green, bio-based compound, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), was introduced into the intumescent flame retardant system to improve the flame retardant properties of waterborne fireproof coatings. The flame retardant properties of the sample with 2 wt% ATP were characterized by fire resistance tests, thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimetric analysis, and other tests. The results revealed that the 2 wt% ATP coating sample exhibited a reduced fire resistance temperature of approximately 73°C at 60 min compared with that of the blank sample (i.e., the unmodified sample), and the residual carbon increased from 28% to 36% at 800°C. Furthermore, the peak of the heat release rate and the total heat release for the sample with 2 wt% ATP were 7.87% and 14.10% lower than those for the blank sample, respectively. Additionally, the total smoke production and peak smoke release rate for the modified sample were 33.60% and 22.54% lower than those for the blank sample, respectively. Therefore, this work provides a good prospect for the application of bio-based ATP, which can be applied in the fabrication of fire-resistant and smoke-suppressive coatings for structural steel and also provides a simple and efficient strategy for green, bio-based flame retardants, which is expected to expand their application scope in fireproof coatings. Graphical abstract