In this study, three kinds of graphene were used as fire retardant fillers to improve the properties of waterborne intumescent fire resistive coatings. The surface area of graphene was measured by nitrogen adsorption-desorption method. The influences of surface area of graphene on fire resistance, thermal stability, smoke suppression and water resistance of the coatings were studied. SEM, FTIR, XRD and XPS were used to investigated the structure and composition of the inorganic expansion layer. The spectra of FTIR and XRD demonstrated the inorganic expansion layer had the same chemical composition. The XPS result proved that graphene could enhance anti-oxidation of the inorganic expansion layer. The SEM images showed that the number of holes and cracks decreased with the addition of graphene. The results demonstrated that the graphene with surface area of 212 m(2)/g significantly enhanced the fire resistance, thermal stability, smoke suppression, water resistance of the fire resistive coatings effectively. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.