Sustainability, Vol. 15, Pages 5426: Evaluation of the Flame-Retardant Performance and Fire Risk of Cellulose Building Finishing Material Due to the Particle Size of Expandable Graphite

Sustainability, Vol. 15, Pages 5426: Evaluation of the Flame-Retardant Performance and Fire Risk of Cellulose Building Finishing Material Due to the Particle Size of Expandable Graphite

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su15065426

Authors: Yongjoo Kim Dongin Park Dongho Rie

The burning of building finishing materials containing chemical substances can lead to the spread of fire with a large number of harmful substances. To prevent this, cellulose, an eco-friendly material that minimizes the generation of harmful substances, was chosen as the main material for building finishing materials. Wastepaper was recycled to extract cellulose, and a finishing material was manufactured by mixing in expandable graphite and magnesium hydroxide. The flame-retardant performance of the finishing material was evaluated by measuring the total heat emission rate using the ISO 5660-1 cone calorimeter, with the particle size of the expanded graphite as a variable. The measured physical properties value was used as the FDS parameter to evaluate the risk of fire. Results show that the cellulose-based building finishing material meets the life safety standard of NFSC 203 during the simulation time and has a FED value that does not exceed 0.001 at maximum. This confirms its effectiveness in providing safe egress time for residents.