Multifunctional EP coating with CoFeNi-decorated conductive mica for integrated flame retardancy, microwave absorption and photothermal conversion

A multifunctional hybrid filler (CM@CPBA) was fabricated. • CM@CPBA endowed EP coatings with excellent flame retardancy and smoke suppression performance. • CM@CPBA endowed EP coatings with superior microwave absorption and photothermal conversion performance. With the rapid expansion of the new energy vehicle industry, multifunctional epoxy resin (EP) coatings integrating flame retardancy, microwave absorption and photothermal conversion have aroused extensive attention owing to their lightweight and high-safety characteristics. In this work, a multifunctional CM@CPBA hybrid filler was synthesized via carbonization, which was incorporated into EP matrix to fabricate multifunctional EP coatings. CM@CPBA endows EP coatings with superior flame retardancy and smoke suppression performance. Compared with neat EP, the peak heat release rate (pHRR), total heat release (THR) and total smoke production (TSP) of EP coatings filled with 8 wt% CM@CPBA are remarkably reduced by 42.5%, 33.1% and 46.9%, respectively. This is mainly because the CoFeNi in CM@CPBA can catalyze carbonization and cross-linking reactions. Meanwhile, CM forms a molten glassy layer on the material surface, which restrains the further decomposition of the EP coatings. In addition, the multilayer sheet-like structure of CM@CPBA coupled with extensive conductive networks endows EP coatings with superior microwave absorption performance, with a minimum reflection loss (RL min ) of −51.56 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.7 GHz. Furthermore, the CM@CPBA also endows EP coatings with excellent photothermal conversion capacity. Under identical irradiation conditions, the temperature rise rate of EP/CM@CPBA is improved by 70.34%. Consequently, this multifunctional EP coating satisfies the lightweight and safety requirements of new energy vehicles and offers a novel strategy for the multifunctional design of vehicles composite components. Download: Download high-res image (175KB) Download: Download full-size image