engleski

Comparison of textile & paper flame retardant effectiveness obtained with environmentally friendly agents

Effectiveness of organophosphorus based flame retardant (FR) reactant combined with two types of binders was tested on two different cellulose materials – textile and paper. Cellulose, the basis of wood, cotton and most other plant-derived raw materials is in widespread use. It is inherently flammable in many of its forms - paper being a typical example. In order to obtain flame retardancy materials were impregnated with solution containing FR agent, binder and its catalyst and linked during the curing step. N-hydroxymethyl-3-dimethylphosphonpropionamide was used as organophosphorus FR agent with two types of binders, either melamine formaldehyde (MF) or citric acid (CA). In this paper, MF binding agent is successfully replaced with environmentally friendly CA. This alternative agent has been used until now for DP finishing and dimensional stability while in this paper it is used to bond organophosphorus oligomer to cotton and impart durable FR properties. Flame retardancy was tested on both materials according to ISO 6940 and 6941 method, so as with limiting oxygen index (LOI) technique, according to ASTM D 2863-99. Tensile strength of textile samples was measured on MesdanLab Strength Tester according to ISO 13934/1, while the tensile indices of paper were measured according to the ISO 1924– 2. The results revealed that both FR treatments have passed the vertical flammability test. Textile material was additionally tested after the 10 laundering cycles. In comparison to the bath containing MF binder, the bath containing CA have showed lower char length which consequently means better FR efficiency. Quantitative evaluation by LOI showed to be valuable tool for the investigation of the flammability of textiles as a function of their chemical composition. The results of the LOI showed noticeable difference between the untreated and FR treated samples. While both untreated samples (textiles and paper) are in a group of easily combustible materials (LOI < 20), all treated samples are within the group of materials with low combustibility (20 < LOI < 40), showing the results in a range 25-27%, for the paper and 37-39 for the textiles. The combination of organophosphorus agent, citric acid and its phosphono based catalyst significantly improved flame retardant properties. The usage of presented FR combination for cellulose materials imparts excellent flame retardancy enabling both cellulose materials to meet severe safety standards and regulations.

organophosphorus agents; FR effectiveness; environmentally friendly agents; textiles; paper

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