Facile Preparation of Flower‐Like Nanosheets to Enhance Ablation Resistance, Flame Retardancy and Mechanical Properties of Intumescent Flame‐Retardant Polyurea

ABSTRACT In this work, melamine and phytic acid are used as the building blocks in a straightforward and ecologically benign self‐assembly method to create flower‐like melamine‐phytate (MEPA) nanosheets. The flower‐like MEPA with the loading of 1.0 wt%, 2.0 wt%, and 3.0 wt% are incorporated into intumescent flame‐retardant polyurea coating (IFR‐PUA) to explore the possibility of these well‐designed nanosheets as functional fillers. The flammability, combustion behavior, and ablative resistance of MEPA‐based nanocomposites are examined. IFR‐PUA/MEPA composites exhibit favorable smoke suppression, ablative resistance, flame retardancy, and thermal stability. Additionally, compared with IFR‐PUA, the addition of 2 wt% MEPA enhances the mechanical property, with the elongation at break and tensile strength values increased by 22.8% and 41.3%, respectively. The flame‐retardant and mechanical enhancement mechanisms are revealed based on system analysis. This work provides an economical strategy to prepare novel bio‐based two‐dimensional nanomaterials and is conducive to progressing its application in functional composites.