Flame retardant and antibacterial windmill palm fibers treated by 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide and N-halamine

With growing environmental awareness and a focus on sustainable development, the recycling and utilization of natural fibers and renewable resources have become critical issues in recent years. Windmill palm fibers (WPFs) are composed of cellulose microfibrils within a matrix of hemicellulose and lignin, which can harbor bacteria and pose a health risk to the wearer in humid environments. They are also highly flammable resulting in safety hazards during industrial production and use. In this study, we used a click chemistry strategy to conduct a surface modification on WPFs. The treated fibers are fire redundant and antibacterial. The treatment includes two steps: first step is delignification and hemicellulose removal followed by silanes treatment; second step is the click chemical reaction with 6-(((1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)amino)(4-(allyloxy)phenyl)methyl)dibenzo[c,e][ 1 , 2 ]oxaphosphinine 6-oxide (TAPM-DOPO). The burn tests have proved that TAPM-DOPO plays an important role in condensed phase in flame retardancy of WPFs. The sustained burn time was reduced by 71 s. Furthermore, it exhibited excellent bactericidal activity against both E. coli and S. aureus , the inhibition rate reached 99.9% after chlorination. The technology in this study demonstrates a feasible production of the flame retardant and antibacterial WPFs suitable to large-volume manufacturing of textile product.