Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride Finishes for Durable Flame Retardancy for Cotton Fabrics

Abstract Cotton flannels were padded with flame retardant compositions comprising a vinyl chloride co-polymer resin, a halogenated phosphate ester plasticizer and a small amount of an unsaturated alkyl dimethacrylate monomer to give varying add-on's-up to 60% by weight of the cottons. The padded cotton flannels were then exposed to high energy electron beam irradiation dosages in the presence of air at ambient temperatures. Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) measurements are reported for the treated cottons for increasing numbers of laundering cycles and correlated with fabric weight changes. Analogous experiments were carried out with the same flame retardant composition padded onto the cotton flannels to similar add-on's but with the resultant samples not subjected to electron beam irradiation. The laundering durability of the irradiated treated cotton flannels was significantly superior and weight losses were lower, especially after extended launderings. Irradiation treatments offer a potentially attractive approach for enhancing the laundering durability of relatively inexpensive flame retardant compositions.