Comparative study on the fire resistance of wood treated with various ionic liquids

Abstract

We applied various ionic liquids (ILs) to wood to enhance its fire resistance. ILs were impregnated into the wood at room temperature under reduced pressure. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyzer (TG/DTA) was used to study the thermal property of the IL-treated wood. All IL-treated wood exhibited enhanced fire resistance as compared with untreated wood. In particular, the TG curves for the choline dihydrogenphosphate ([Choline]PO4)-treated wood and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([MMIM]DMP)-treated wood showed higher residual weights. Their DTA curves showed no prominent exothermic peak, indicating that they can achieve greater fire resistance. [MMIM]DMP-treated wood satisfies the standard of fire-resistant materials in the combustibility test on materials for train carriages.