Effect of Chlorinated Epoxy Resin Content on Thermophysical and Mechanical Properties of Intumescent Fire-Retardant Coatings Based on Them

An effective method of fire protection of metal structures is coating with intumescent fire-retardant materials, among which two-component systems based on epoxy binders are widely used. A notable disadvantage of such systems is their flammability, which can cause a decrease in the fire protection efficiency of coating. One of the methods for reducing flammability is the introduction of fire-retardant functional groups into the polymer structure, in particular, halogen-containing fragments, which can affect the nature of thermal destruction of the material and increase its fire-retardant efficiency. The paper investigates the relationship between the chlorine content in the binder, which is a mixture of chlorine-containing epoxy resin and halogen-free resin in various ratios, and material properties such as flammability, fire-retardant efficiency, adhesion to a steel substrate, and thermal expansion degree, as well as the nature of decomposition under heat treatment.