Abstract:

In order to study the thermal degradation behavior of expanion flame retardant effect on cotton fiber, an intumescent flame-retardant (IFR) coating composed of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) as acid source, pentaerythritol (PER) as carbon source and melamine (MEL) as gas source is deposited on cotton fabric by padding. The thermal degradation behaviors and kinetics of the the flame-retardant cotton fiber were investigated by thermogravimetry under nitrogen atmosphere at different heating rates. These kinetic parameters were determined by iso-conversional metods containing Kissinger, Flynn-Wall- (FWO) and Friedman methods and the thermal degradation behavior of cotton fabric join expansion flame-retardant before and after has been also evaluated. These results showed that IFR system could reduce the initial decomposition temperature and promote formation of residual char which insulates heat and oxygen into the cotton fabric. Therefore, the activation energy defined as the minimum energy required to start a chemical reaction is increased. The activation energy values obtained from Kissinger method are similar with those from FWO method. However, it was found that activation energies of IFR cotton fabric calculated by Friedman method are higher than those from Kissinger and FWO method.

Key words: intumescent flame retardant, flame-retardant finishing of cotton fabric, thermal degradation kinetics, thermogravimetry analysis, activation energy