AN INVESTIGATION ON ENHANCEMENT FLAME RETARDANCY PROPERTIES OF COTTON FABRICS

Abstract

Natural and synthetic fibers are used in more areas. However fire hazards increase with the use of these fibers and cause the loss of life and goods. Owing to the progressive expansion of industrialization, the safety of human turned into an important subject. One of the precautions to minimize the loss of life and property caused by fires is the use of non-flammable or fire retardant materials. In this study cotton woven fabrics, mostly preferred in daily life, were used. Two different flame retardant chemicals were treated to the fabrics with three different concentrations. One of the used flame retardant chemical is commercially available and commonly used in textile industry having inorganic phosphorus. The other flame retardant chemical is ammonium phosphate, which is generally used as fertilizer in the agricultural sector. Some of the treated fabrics were treated at three different concentrations of binder having flame-retardant property. Finally, the fabrics were individually treated with coating and fixating agents. It is aimed to investigate the effect of flame retardant chemical type and concentration, binder concentration, fixator and coating chemical on flame retardant properties of cotton fabrics. The LOI value of treated fabrics before washing and after washing is statistically evaluated by SPSS program.