Abstract
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and nylon find their main applications in working clothes, domestic furniture and as indoor decoration (curtains and carpets). The increasing attention on healthy lifestyle, together with protection and safety, gained a strong interest in today's society. In this context, reducing the flammability of textiles has been tackled by designing flame retardants (FRs) able to suppress or delay the flame propagation. Commercially available FRs for textiles often consist of brominated, chlorinated and organo-phosphorus compounds, which are considered a great concern for human health and for the environment. In this study, Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) was investigated as a green and eco-friendly alternative to halogen-containing FRs. DNA is in fact able to provide flame retardant properties due to its intrinsically intumescent building blocks (deoxyribose, phosphoric-polyphosphoric acid, and nitrogen-containing bases). In a first step, anchor groups (i.e., carboxyl groups) for subsequent coupling of DNA were introduced to PET and nylon-6 fabrics via limited surface hydrolysis with Humicola insolens cutinase (HiC). Released monomer/oligomers were measured via HPLC (1 mM of BHET for PET and 0.07 mM of caprolactam from nylon after 72 h). In a next step, DNA immobilization on the activated polymers was studied by using three different coupling systems, namely: EDC/NHS, dopamine, and tyrosine. DNA coupling was confirmed via FT-IR that showed typical bands at 1,220, 970, and 840 cm−1. The tyrosine/DNA coupling on nylon fabrics resulted to be the most effective as certified by the lowest burning rate and total burning time (35 s, 150 mm, and 4.3 mm*s−1 for the blank and 3.5 s, 17.5 mm, and 5 mm* s−1 for nylon/tyrosine/DNA) which was also confirmed by FT-IR and ESEM/EDS measurements. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) further confirmed that tyrosine/DNA coated nylon showed a lower thermal degradation between 450 and 625°C when compared to the untreated samples.
Highlights
IntroductionLike poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and nylon-6, are omnipresent in an average household (furniture, wall insulation, curtains, flooring, etc.) as well as in clothing
Synthetic polymers, like poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and nylon-6, are omnipresent in an average household as well as in clothing
We investigated a covalent immobilization of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) onto enzymatically activated PET and nylon-6
Summary
Like poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and nylon-6, are omnipresent in an average household (furniture, wall insulation, curtains, flooring, etc.) as well as in clothing. Within European fire brigade statistics, specially referring to these kinds of fibers and plastics, different studies confirmed that they greatly contribute to a quick flames spreading in case of fire, leading to major damages to humans and high financial losses (World Fire Statistics, 2006). For this reason, flame retardant science gained a crucial role in textile and plastic manufacture in the last decades. The last class of flame retardants comprises phosphorus-based flame retardants, often combined with nitrogen compounds During the fire, these compounds release phosphoric acid (which leads to char formation) and ammonia (which causes a dilution in the gas phase) (Wang et al, 2018). Most of the FRC are absorbed on surface material, their leaching and accumulation, cause major health risks for marine environment and in the end for human health due to their dietary
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