Enhancement of Fire Retardancy in Coir Fibers Using Phosphorylation Treatment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Coir fiber has been pretreated using liquid ammonia and further subjected to phosphorylation for enhancing fire retardancy using a mixture of phosphoric acid and phosphorus pentoxide. Enhancement in fire retardancy was observed with reduced water absorption and without inducing any degradative effects on its physical properties. SEM images revealed the surface modifications induced by pretreatment and the surface became more smooth after phosphorylation indicating the adherance of the phosphorylation compounds added, on to the surface. The flammability characteristics, such as reduction in time of burning from 182 to 50 s, no smoke without afterglow when burnt are the major observations. Horizontal flammability tests showed a 66% reduction in burning rate of phosphorylated coir samples. Thus, proving it as an economically viable flame retardant treatment method which suits coir fiber as an efficient substrate for various applications.