Bio-derived efficient flame-retardants for cotton fabric

This paper presents a facile synthesis method for bio-derived (from the bark of Terminalia arjuna and tea powder) phosphorus-functionalized materials (AB-P and TP-P). The resulting biobased flame-retardant (FR) materials exhibit excellent flame retardancy properties as they contain high amounts of polyphenolics, which can easily incorporate phosphorus functional groups in the composites. To investigate the effect of graphene on the flame retardancy property, we prepare graphene-functionalized AB-P and TP-P (i.e. GAB-P and GTP-P) FR materials. These FR materials are coated on cotton fabrics and their properties are examined by conducting a simple spirit flame test, a limiting oxygen index (LOI) test, and a vertical flammability test. The GAB-Pand GTP-P-coated cotton fabrics initially emit little smoke without catching fire and sustain up to 564 s and 540 s, respectively on continuous application of flame. By contrast, the control fabric burns within 5 s. The GO-coated fabric sustains up to 20 s. The LOIs and char lengths of AB-P, TP-P, GAB-P, and GTP-P are 36.4, 37.4, 49.5, and 51.9% and 11.3, 16.4, 2.2, and 3.5 cm, respectively. These results reveal that the use of graphene enhances the flame retardancy properties of the synthesized materials. This new approach could be useful for the mass production of cost-effective, bio-derived, phosphorus-functionalized materials for different applications, including as safe and efficient FRs. [GRAPHICS] .