Effectiveness of Water-Retaining Polymer as Fire Retardant in Indirect Use

Due to their unique properties, hydrogels can be used in many areas of life and science. The main purpose of this work was to present the possibility of using hydrogels as a kind of fire retardant material itself and as a medium in fire retardant materials used, among others, as the extinguishing agents for fires and the suppression agents for the self-ignition of coal in mines (where their low viscosity and high ability to penetration of the protected material is used), protective layers in fabrics and the so-called robot skin (most often applied in the layer-by-layer system), filling in the fire retardant window panels (mostly hybrid hydrogels or hydrogel copolymers are used) and protective emulsions of the wooden elements used in construction and furniture joinery (mainly in combination with silicate and phosphate derivatives). In the presented applications, hydrogels can be used alone, e.g. due to the large water capacity and at the same time the possibility of dilution, or in combination with fire retardants, what very often allows for the multiplication of the extinguishing or fire retardant effect. Due to the multitude of available studies and the speed of scientific development, this review is focused mainly on publications written after 2015.

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Modification of Freezing Point for Hydrogel Extinguishant and Its Effect on Comprehensive Properties in Simulated Forest Fire Rescue

Han

Chen

Hou

et al. 2022

Sustainability

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Hydrogels, as an emerging extinguishant, exhibit outstanding performance in forest fire rescues. However, the near-zero freezing point limits their application at low temperatures. Herein, a sensible candidate commercial extinguishant was selected for analysis, and its freezing point was modified based on the evaluation of water absorption rate, agglomeration, viscosity, and water dispersibility. Notably, the introduction of different antifreeze and flame retardant exhibited a significant disparate impact on the viscosity representative factor. Ten orthogonal experiments were performed to optimize the specific formulation. When ethylene glycol, urea and ammonium bicarbonate, and xanthan gum were applied as antifreeze, flame retardant, and thickener, with the addition amounts of 5 mL, 0.08 g and 0.04 g, and 0.12 g, respectively, the hydrogel extinguishant with 1% ratio in 50 mL of ultra-water featured the remarkable performance. Compared with the original extinguishant, the freezing point of the modified sample decreased from −0.3 to −9.2 °C. The sample’s viscosity was improved from 541 to 1938 cP, and the flame retardance time was more than 120 s. The results of corrosion and biotoxicity show that the optimized hydrogel extinguishant satisfies the national standards. This understanding provides a deeper insight into the application of low-temperature extinguishants in forest fires.

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Effectiveness of Water-Retaining Polymer as Fire Retardant in Indirect Use

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

Eucalyptus Bark Tannin for Green Chemistry Agent

Eucalyptus Bark Tannin for Green Chemistry Agent

Applications of hydrogels with fire retardant properties—a review

Modification of Freezing Point for Hydrogel Extinguishant and Its Effect on Comprehensive Properties in Simulated Forest Fire Rescue

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