Flammability and thermal decomposition characteristics of upholstery textiles treated with flame retardant chemicals

摘要

Six textile fabrics of different fibre composition viz., polyester, polyester-cotton, cotton-flax, cotton, cotton-silk and jute were treated using flame retardant chemicals containing phosphorous, halogen and borate as active ingredient. LOI of treated cellulosic and its blended samples was increased by more than 100% after treatment with phosphorous ingredient FR chemical. The halogen ingredient based treatment exhibited 50-100% increase in LOI for the same samples. THe speed of flame spread was reduced by more than 50% for the phosphorous ingredient treatment and reduction was less than 50% for other treatments. The borate based treatment exhibited increase in speed of flame spread in polyester cotton blended fabric. Phosphorous ingredient treatment yielded an additional endotherm at around 200℃ in the thermogram. The degradation onset temperature point of all samples was lowered by more than 50℃ for all the treatments. The observed mass loss was prolonged in the treated samples when compared to the control samples. The pattern of mass loss at different temperature intervals changed completely after the treatment. Flame retardants applied on the fabrics also decreased the activation energy of treated samples.