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Effect of titanium dioxide on the flame‐retardant finishing of cotton fabric
Author(s) -
Lam Y. L.,
Kan C. W.,
Yuen C. W. M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.33618
Subject(s) - fire retardant , titanium dioxide , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , flammability , cellulose , composite material , melamine , phosphoric acid , nuclear chemistry , chemical engineering , chemistry , metallurgy , engineering
In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) or nano titanium dioxide (nano‐TiO 2 ) was used as a cocatalyst in the flame‐retardant (FR) formulation of N ‐methylol dimethylphosphonopropionamide (Pyrovatex CP New, FR), melamine resin [Knittex CHN, crosslinking agent (CL)], and phosphoric acid (PA) for cotton fabrics to improve the treatment effectiveness and minimize the side effects of the treatment. For FR‐treated cotton fabrics, the flame extinguished right after removal of the ignition source with no flame spreading. However, after neutralization and/or home laundering, FR–CL‐treated specimens failed the flammability test, whereas the opposite results were obtained from FR–CL–PA‐treated specimens. A noticeable result was that the TiO 2 /nano‐TiO 2 cocatalyst had a significant effect on decreasing the flame‐spread rate. Thermal analysis found that the FR‐treated specimens without wet posttreatment showed two endothermic peaks representing the phosphorylation of cellulose and acid‐catalyzed dehydration. In addition, the treated fabrics showed some new characteristic peaks in their chemical structures; these were interpreted as carbonyl bands, CH 2 rocking bands, and CH 3 asymmetric and CH 2 symmetric stretching. The surface morphology of the FR–CL–PA‐treated cotton specimens showed a roughened and wrinkled fabric surface with a high deposition of the finishing agent that had a lower breaking load and tearing strength, which resulted from the side effects of the CL used. However, the addition of a TiO 2 or nano‐TiO 2 cocatalyst could compensate for the reduction in the tensile strength. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011