Synergistic effect of phosphorus, nitrogen and silicon on flame retardancy properties of cotton fabric treated by sol-gel process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop the flame retardancy properties of cotton fabrics with treatment of phosphorus and nitrogen containing silane-based nanosol by sol-gel process. Design/methodology/approach – Nanosols containing tetraethoxysilane or (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane as precursors, (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane as cross-linking agent and guanidine phosphate monobasic as flame retarding agent were impregnated on cotton fabrics. Flame retardancy properties of the fabric samples were determined by limited flame spread test and limited oxygen index (LOI) test. In addition, microstructural and surface morphological properties of the fabric samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X -ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. Findings – Depending on the limited flame spread test, the authors show that the coated fabric samples gain flame retardancy properties and the LOI value of the samples increased as to 45.7 per cent by the synergistic effect of phosphorus-nitrogen-silicon. Originality/value – There have some studies in flame retardancy behaviour of textiles. In this study, flame retardant cotton fabric with very low weight in grams was improved by sol-gel process. Moreover, ecological process was provided thanks to using halogen-free flame retardant.