Flame-retardant thermoelectric responsive coating based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiphene) modified metal–organic frameworks

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is introduced on the surface of a metal–organic framework material by solvothermal method to prepare nanorods (TE@Zn-MOFs) with both flame retardant and thermoelectric properties. Data from cone calorimeter and TG-IR show that TE@Zn-MOFs effectively improves the flame retardant and smoke suppression properties of epoxy-based coatings. At a high TE@Zn-MOFs content of 10 wt%, the coating oxygen index increased from 18.2% to 29.0%, the total smoke release decreased from 25.26 to 22.60 m2, and the V-0 level was achieved in vertical combustion classification. Moreover, PEDOT enables epoxy-based coatings to output a certain current value at different heating temperatures (50–200°C). This work demonstrates that MOFs with flexible and variable structures can serve as effective flame retardants for epoxy-based coatings and endow coatings with fire warning characteristics, providing a way to develop multifunctional coatings for different application scenarios.