Fire Retardant Coatings

Fire retardant coatings are often required to protect a wide range of products of both flammable and nonflammable against fire. It is an oldest, most efficient, and easiest method to apply any surface without modifying the intrinsic properties of materials. Moreover, the initial phase of fire always occurs on the surface by ignition, and hence, it is important to concentrate on the surface protection of a material. Being an organic nature of conventional surface coating will burn easily and generate smoke and toxic fumes, which may not be suitable for application where fire protection or fire prevention is required. Reaction-to-fire and/or resistance-to-fire are to be considered for assessing both flammable and non-flammable material by using fire retardant and fire resistant or fire protective coatings. The degree of fire retardation mainly depends on the coating thickness, substrates, and efficiency of formulations. This chapter explains briefly the fire retardation of wood by using fire retardant coatings.