PET Foams Surface Treated with Graphene Nanoplatelets: Evaluation of Thermal Resistance and Flame Retardancy

In this work, fire-retardant systems consisting of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and dispersant agents were designed and applied on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam. Manual deposition from three different liquid solutions was performed in order to create a protective coating on the specimen's surface. A very low amount of coating, between 1.5 and 3.5 wt%, was chosen for the preparation of coated samples. Flammability, flame penetration, and combustion tests demonstrated the improvement provided to the foam via coating. In particular, specimens with PSS/GNPs coating, compared to neat foam, were able to interrupt the flame during horizontal and vertical flammability tests and led to longer endurance times during the flame penetration test. Furthermore, during cone calorimetry tests, the time to ignition (TTI) increased and the peak of heat release rate (pHRR) was drastically reduced by up to 60% compared to that of the uncoated PET foam. Finally, ageing for 48 and 115 h at 160 °C was performed on coated specimens to evaluate the effect on flammability and combustion behavior. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images proved the morphological effect of the heat treatment on the surface, showing that the coating was uniformly distributed. In this case, fire-retardant properties were enhanced, even if fewer GNPs were used.