TOWARDS DURABLE FR NYLON-COTTON BLENDS FOR MILITARY CLOTHING APPLICATIONS

摘要

There is a significant need in both civilian as well as military needs for improved, cost effective and environmentally safe flame retardant (FR) clothing. Fire hazards or accidents as well as threat-generated exposure to fire (i.e. thermal weapons, ballistic, blast, chemical, and directed energy) have led to the increased incidence of injuries and deaths. Current FR protective materials (e.g. FR ACU) do not always provide optimum protection against existing and emerging battlefield threats and have inadequate durability. Some of these FR are expensive, have profound environmental impacts and in many cases cannot be produced in the US. Current research is focused on developing FR fabrics based on nylon/cotton blend (1:1 nylonxotton), with comparable FR protection to the FR ACU but with enhanced durability and lower cost. It is therefore imperative to find ways to impart improved FR properties to Nyco fabric into Army uniforms through effective and convenient surface coating functional techniques. Although, many researchers, including our group have been working to develop flame retardant (FR) coatings on cotton and Nyco fabrics using traditional coating methods involving layer-by-layer method to impart FR properties, these coated fabrics cannot withstand the laundering tests which is essential for soldier clothing applications. Most coatings used currently interact with the fabric through predominantly weak, non-covalent interactions that are not stable during washing. Since fire initiation is a surface phenomenon, development of covalently functionalized conformal coatings will have a direct impact on flammability of the fabric as well as durability of the coating. Here we address the durability issues of the current FR coatings and present the results from the research work on corona/plasma treatment and chemical functionalization with the ultimate goal of producing durable FR Nyco.