Hsinchu, Taiwan -- US magazine Aviation Week gave the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan an innovation award for its Reddex product, a non-toxic fire-resistant polyurethane composite material. Dr Jonq-Min Liu, executive vice president of ITRI, accepted the honour in Washington, DC.
Reddex is characterised by its ignition resistance, and non-melting, non-toxic properties. Even in temperatures higher than 1000 deg Celsius, it can still protect substances coated with it for about 60 min, lowering its temperature to under 300 deg Celsius.
Because Reddex's retains its excellent bonding property and robustness even after being torched by fire for an extended period, steel frames coated with Reddex in a building can maintain strong structural adherence to the main structure, and thus protect a building from catching fire or being damaged by fire.
ITRI says Reddex meets the environmental codes of the European Union. It has a wide range of applications, such as for making partition and compartment materials inside an airplane, fuselage insulation materials, chair cushion fabrics, construction and building materials, as well as industrial and daily-use products.
Conventional fire-resistant materials are often characterised by high density, heavy weight and little flexibility, the Taiwanese group said, adding that also crumble easily or break away from the protected substrate. Conventional fire-resistant materials also contain halogens, sulphur or phosphorus components, and thus release toxic vapour when exposed to fire.
Reddex contains no halogens, sulphur or phosphorus, so no toxic gas is generated when exposed to fire, ITRI added. Reddex also prevents the protected substance from rising in temperatures. Even after it catches fire, it releases only water vapour and hardly any harmful gases, and its smoke density is only 2.0, much less than the safety standard of 200, according to the Hsinchu, Taiwan-nased institute.
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