Construction of eco-friendly flame retardant and dripping-resistant coating on polyester fabrics

Polyester fabric is widely used in our daily life, while it is highly flammable and easy to produce melt dripping during combustion causing huge potential hazards. Endowing polyester fabric with flame retardancy and dripping-resistance simultaneously is still a difficulty. Eco-friendly polyethylenimine/phytic acid (PEI/PA) coating on polyester fabric was fabricated in this study. The limiting oxygen index value of coated fabric increased from 21.3% of uncoated one to higher than 40%. The dripping phenomenon of coated fabrics was completely eliminated. The coated polyester fabrics possessed good flame retardant durability after washing. Thermogravimetric analysis results indicated that PEI/PA coating promoted the char formation of polyester fabrics resulting in dripping-resistance. Scanning electron microscopy results demonstrated that PEI/PA coating could act through the intumescent flame retardant action. This study provides a facile method for durable flame retardant and dripping-resistant thermoplastic fabric using eco-friendly chemicals by the simple layer-by-layer assembly.