Zentek has filed a provisional patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for an innovative Graphene Oxide-Metal-Organic Framework (GO-MOF) compound for use in fire retardant products. Our compound contains only components that are generally considered environmentally friendly, and no solvents or toxic chemicals, as environmental, social and governance continues to be a significant consideration for Zentek. We think our compound will be highly scalable and efficient, due to our patent-pending facile synthesis process.
Our GO-MOF enhanced intumescent coating’s performance was highlighted where one side of a piece of wood was heated with a torch. By increasing the temperature in the coating, the thermal decomposition of the fire-retardant components was initiated. During this thermal decomposition, a portion of fire-retardant components turned to ash. The release of inert gases such as water (H2O) makes a porous structure for the chars and forces them to be expanded. The expansion of the char makes a barrier between the substrate (wood, in this example) and the flame, limiting heat transfer. While the temperature reached 400 degrees Celsius on the side with flame applied, the temperature only reached 85 degrees Celsius on the opposite side.
Zentek believes its fire-retardant GO-MOF additive could potentially be placed in a variety of coating products, such as latex, epoxies or included in polymers. When integrated into a polymer, it could create a fire-resistant plastic that could be used in electric vehicles, providing a fire-resistant non-metal casing for the batteries. This would reduce the weight of the casing while still providing significant protection in case of a battery fire.