Developing flame-retardant, antibacterial cotton fabric by incorporating a linear polysiloxane-based coating

Abstract

So as to meet the increasing demand of cotton fabrics in different fire safety scenarios, it is imperative to develop treatment agents with both flame retardant and antibacterial effects. Using linear polysiloxane as raw material, (DMH-BPMS) hydantoin-bromopropylmethylsiloxane was synthesized under mild conditions, which was mixed with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and sodium alginate and coated on cotton fabrics. The structure of DMH-BPMS was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) and the vertical flammability test (VFT) show that the LOI value of DMH-BPMS/APP/Cotton can reach 29.8 %, and the char length was 9.6 cm, when the mass ratio of DMH-BPMS to APP is 3:2. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that DMH-BPMS/APP/Cotton had good thermal stability. Under nitrogen conditions at 750 ℃, the char residue rate is still as high as 38.93 %, which is higher than that (12.76 %) of cotton. Cone calorimetry test showed that the total heat release of DMH-BPMS/APP/Cotton decreased, the CO 2 release decreased, and TSP (total smoke production) decreased by 36 % compared with APP/Cotton. DMH-BPMS/APP/Cotton has an amazing antibacterial effect on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and the antibacterial rate can reach 97.8 % and 99.0 %. The whiteness of DMH-BPMS/APP/Cotton was 14.9 % lower than that of cotton. When the concentration of DMH-BPMS was 450 g/L, the maximum breaking strength of DMH-BPMS/APP/cotton in warp and weft directions increased by 48 % and 55 %. • It provides a new flame retardant and antibacterial multifunctional coating for cotton fabric. • It can effectively reduce the smoke emission of cotton fabrics treated with ammonium polyphosphate alone when burning. • One step method can effectively reduce energy consumption and improve production efficiency instead of two-step method.