Development of fire protective coatings

Reference Number: RS/20/06
• Fully-funded PhD studentship with tax-free bursary of £17 000 per year
• Based in Preston, Lancashire at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)
• Requires instrumental/analytical chemist or equivalent

An exciting opportunity has arisen to develop smart coatings able to respond to fire and protect the underlying structure, through a fully funded PhD studentship. Intumescent coatings look like paint, but swell to become 200 times thicker, providing a fire-resistant insulation, which keeps steel structures cool and so prevents catastrophic collapse of burning buildings. The secret is in the formulation of the coating. At the right moment, one ingredient releases gas, just as the polymeric binder liquefies, foaming up to form a thick protective layer, then a third ingredient initiates cross linking, creating a fireproof matrix, which keeps the steel below a critical 550 °C. Getting each component in the formulation to play its part requires a detailed understanding of its chemistry.

The project, a collaboration between leading coatings manufacturer Construction Products Group Europe (Nullifire) (part of RPM International Inc., a $5bn global Company) and the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) world famous fire laboratory needs a highly motivated, resourceful instrumental analyst to undertake detailed materials characterization and to investigate the relationship between the chemical structure, and the performance of the coating in real fire situations. In addition to a state-of-the-art instrumental laboratory, UCLan’s fire laboratory has facilities to test samples up to 800 mm, while CPG Europe have industrial test furnaces at its R&D Centre of Excellence based in Coventry, UK, for larger steel pieces.

Physical characterization will involve the following instrumental techniques:
• Spectroscopic analysis: 31P MAS NMR, diamond-ATR-FTIR, Infrared and Raman Microscope.
• Structural characterisation: SEM-EDX, XRD, rheometry.
• Thermal analysis: TGA, DSC and/or STA (simultaneous thermal analysis) and STA-FTIR.
• Solution characteristics: solubility, conductivity, pH, viscosity, molecular weight.

The project offers a unique opportunity to apply detailed chemistry to a challenging industrial problem and will equip the successful candidate with an expert level understanding of fire protection, very much in demand after the Grenfell tragedy. The analytical capabilities developed will be sought after in a wider field of employment, while the ability to relate chemical structure to performance in a complex situation such as a fire protective coating will demonstrate an excellent aptitude for problem solving.

The project will be supervised by Prof Richard Hull at UCLan. In addition to academic expertise in fire science, fire retardants and fire toxicity, with over 115 publications (link here), following the tragic Grenfell tower fire, his expertise in material flammability and smoke toxicity have been much in demand. He has been interviewed on the BBC's Panorama, Newsnight, Breakfast (on the red couch) and World at One, Channel 4's Dispatches, as well as many major UK news programmes. His work has also been reported internationally, in the New York Times, Radio New Zealand, Dutch national TV etc. He has been invited to speak on his work in both the UK and European parliaments.

Construction Products Group Europe (CPG) are part of RPM International Inc., a $5bn global company with its HQ in Medina, OH, USA and provides a wide range of construction product solutions.

Project Title: Development of fire protective coatings]


Project Description:

The aim of the project is to develop improved protective coatings for structural steel through a detailed understanding of the compounds in the formulations. The work will involve instrumental analysis of the individual components of current and proposed fire protective coatings. From this detailed characterisation, novel formulations will be developed, and their fire performance assessed in order to understand the relationship between their chemical and physical structure and their performance as fire protective coatings.


Further information

Informal project related enquiries about the post can be made to [Email Address Removed]

For the application form and full details go to: http://www.uclan.ac.uk/research/study/studentships.php .

Completed application forms should be returned to the Research Student Registry email [Email Address Removed] quoting the studentship reference number RS/20/06


Closing Date: 16 August 2020

Proposed Interview Date: 19 August 2020 (on-line)

Proposed Start Date: 21 September 2020