Flame retardant phase-change polyurethane foam enabled by co-foamed erythritol and carbon-based coating

초록

Latent heat-based thermal buffering materials are attractive for advanced thermal management systems because they can delay temperature rise by absorbing heat during phase transition. However, the practical application of phase change material (PCM)-enabled polymer foams remains challenging because of PCM leakage, structural instability during melting, and insufficient flame resistance. In this study, a flame-retardant phase-change polyurethane foam was developed by incorporating erythritol (ET) into rigid polyurethane through a co-foaming process, followed by the formation of an external epoxy coating containing a flame-retardant carbon filler. The co-foaming route was designed to promote more stable incorporation of ET within the PU matrix through chemical interaction with the surrounding polymer network, thereby suppressing leakage and improving phase-change stability compared with conventional impregnation. The prepared materials were systematically characterized in terms of phase structure, latent heat storage behavior, thermal transport, leakage resistance, and flame-retardant performance. The resulting coated ET/PU composite foam exhibited a latent heat of 64.5 J/g and a thermal conductivity of 0.075 W/mK, while also showing no dripping behavior during UL-94 vertical burning tests. These results demonstrate that the combined strategy of stabilized ET incorporation and flame-retardant surface protection provides an effective route toward leakage-resistant and flame-retardant PCM foams for thermal management applications.

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