Polyester-cotton fabrics are very popular among consumers due to their excellent wearing properties and durability. However, because it is easy to burn, cause fire accidents, and cause huge losses, research on flame-retardant finishing has received widespread attention. To date, flame retardant finishing of polyester and cotton fabrics has been found to be far more difficult than flame retardant of either component.
Main Reasons
1. When the polyester-cotton blended fabric is heated, the heated and melted polyester component will cover the surface of the polyester fiber, and the polyester fiber and the char generated by its cracking will form a skeleton, preventing the fabric from shrinking, causing the molten polyester to become a fuel in the fire zone, making the fabric burn more violently.
2. During the burning process, the flame retardant will migrate between the polyester and cotton components. Therefore, it also brings difficulties to the fr polyester and cotton fabrics;
3. The mutual thermal induction of polyester and cotton polymers or their cracking products accelerates the overflow of the cracking products, so polyester and cotton fabrics ignite much faster than pure polyester and pure cotton;
4. Because cotton is a flammable fiber that does not melt or shrink. When polyester-cotton products burn, the cotton fiber will be carbonized, which acts as a scaffold for the polyester similar to a candle wick, thereby preventing the polyester droplets from leaving the fire source;
Therefore, to reduce the flammability of polyester-cotton fabrics, the following points need to be done:
1. Eliminate the skeleton effect and the interference of the two components.
2. Each component of the blended fabric must be flame retardant;
3. When flame-retardant finishing of blended fabrics, use appropriate flame retardants so that they can complement each other or not interfere with each other;
At present, CVC flame-retardant fabrics are the first choice for being strong and durable and meeting flame-retardant performance requirements. This fabric is blended with more than 60% cotton fiber and less than 40% polyester fiber. It has the excellent properties of both cotton and polyester fibers. Has good strength and better wrinkle resistance and durability.
For a long time, the flame-retardant finishing technology and flame retardant performance of polyester-cotton fabrics that have been developed have been difficult to meet the requirements of certain uses. The existing problems are mainly that the feel or mechanical strength of the fabric after finishing is not satisfactory; secondly, the production ecology needs to be improved. At present, it has not been possible to find a flame retardant and finishing process that can simultaneously play a flame retardant role for both fibers and have a good effect. Currently, decabromodiphenyl ether is widely used, but it has coating finishing properties and its hand feel is not very ideal.