Flammability properties of PI fabric coated with montmorillonite

In this study, polyimide (PI) fabric was coated with montmorillonite (MMT) which performed as a kind of flame retardant. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that PI coated with MMT left as much as 69 % char after heating to 700 °C, about 15 % more than uncoated PI fabric. Cone calorimeter testing (heat flux: 60 kW m−2) showed that coated fabric reduced the total heat release and showed resistance to degradation from direct flame. Post-burn residues of samples were examined with SEM and revealed that the weave structure and fiber shape in all coated fabrics were preserved. In addition, heat-insulting test showed that the temperature difference of coated PI could reach 400 °C after 10 min at 800 °C. These results demonstrate that MMT coating is relatively effective for improving flame-retardant behavior to PI fabric.