Sustainable calcium gluconate-based coatings for lyocell fabrics with superior flame retardancy, antibacteria and wearing properties

Abstract

Sustainability and high performance of flame retardants for lyocell fabrics were still difficult to balance. Here, the full bio-based coatings (PACG) for lyocell fabrics with superior efficient flame-retardant, antibacterial and wearing properties were prepared by phytic acid (PA) and calcium gluconate (CG) in the water solvent. The fire safety of PACG/Lyocell fabrics was remarkably enhanced with an increase in limiting oxygen index (LOI) to 28.7 % when the weight gain was only 4.8 wt%. Meanwhile, PACG/Lyocell fabrics do well work on the heat and smoke release inhibition deriving from the satisfactory synergistic effect of PACG between fast formation of dense residuals and a large release noncombustible gas. Additionally, the existence of calcium ion in the PACG endowed the Lyocell fabrics with excellent antibacterial activity, where the antibacterial properties of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) reached to 99.99 %. Moreover, after 100 dry friction cycles, PACG/Lyocell fabrics still maintained superior flame retardancy and antibacterial properties. More interestingly, unlike other treatment, this efficient and mild treatment method did not deteriorate the whiteness, moisture regain, and wearing properties of lyocell fabrics, which offered a simple and eco-friendly way to obtain the flame-retardant and antibacterial lyocell fabrics with well wearing properties.