Application of ammonium polyphosphate as intumescent flame retardant on Varanasi brocade pineapple fabric

This research paper comprises of application of a flame-retardant finish on the Varanasi brocade pineapple fabric. The novel technique can impart durable flame retardancy. Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) was used as an intumescent flame-retardant polymer to impart flame retardancy. An investigation on the optimization of APP solution concentration has been made. The fabric characterization for the final product's flame-retardant property after the application is presented. The treated fabric has shown increased LOI values with increasing concentrations of APP up to a specific limit. The LOI of 36.7% was determined at a 15% solution concentration. The SEM images showed APP's presence on the pineapple fibers' surface, and the EDX analysis of fabric samples confirmed the elemental addition of nitrogen and phosphorous in the treated fabric. FTIR analysis of control and treated fabric confirms the P-O-C covalent bonding between fiber and APP. TGA analysis of samples has shown the treated samples' low thermal degradation and weight loss compared to control. VFT test showed increased char length and no after-flame time for 15% APP-treated pineapple fabric. Cone calorimetric analysis confirmed that PHRR decreased by around 98% while ARHE and THRR decreased by 49.56% and 50% after 15% of APP treatment. Images of samples after cone calorimetric analysis have presented the layer of char formation in treated fabric. LOI>25 was retained after 20 home laundering of the treated fabric. And no significant effect of APP was found on the colorimetric values of dyed pineapple fabric.