Development of Inorganic Intumescent mulTI-substrate cOatiNg – IGNITION

Polymers play an important role in the French nuclear power industry. They are used in many safety-related applications and in large quantities to fight corrosion and fire. However, they are less durable than steel or concrete, and their maintenance has a direct impact on the cost of energy production. According to France 2030 plan, France plan to made 2 million of electric cars by 2030. e-mobility sector is currently conducting extensive research aimed at improving the autonomy of electric vehicles (mass gain) and reinforcing the "fire" barrier. In this sense, the development of a fireproof paint could help to meet these challenges. One of the fire protection methods is the use of intumescent coatings.
The novelty of this proposal is to develop an eco-friendly coating suitable for different substrates (organic and metallic) with intumescence property as fire protection for organic substrate and electric mobility applications. The interest of these multifunctional materials lies in their easy synthesis method and their inorganic and green nature (without solvent and VOC emission). Furthermore, these materials can be recycled and reused in other geopolymer formulations.
The present project aims at acquiring new insights into inorganic and eco-friendly intumescent coating. To reach such a target, simultaneous research efforts are planned (i) to develop new multi-substrate intumescent coating based on geopolymer material, (ii) to develop new fire resistance tests and propose rules to validate these materials, and (iii) scale up. Following the development of a fireproof geopolymer coating, the development of applications in the nuclear field as well as in the electric transport sector will be involved. The objective is to produce, at the end of this project, 3 industrial demonstrators (TRL5) with intumescent properties such as electric boxes, battery for electric vehicle and hydrogen tanks will be proposed.