Preparation and characterization of flame retardant cotton fabrics

An inorganic flame retardant glass was prepared using the melt methods. The prepared glass was characterized using IR, X-ray. The x-ray patterns and IR charts show that the formation of glass without any crystals. Cotton fabric was finished using different percentage of glass 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 % (w/w) in the presence of citric acid as crosslinker and sodium hypophosphite as catalyst. The flame retardancy of finished cotton fabric was performed using Limited Oxygen Index (LOI) technique. The results of measurements show that the value of LOI of untreated cotton fabric equals 19.6, when cotton fabrics treated with different amounts of glass ranging from 0.5 to 2 %, the value of LOI increased to become 23.6 at 0.5% and 24.8 for the higher glass concentration. The effect of curing temperature and time on the properties and the LOI of cotton fabric was studied.