Cellulose, either as a major component in wood or as the prime textile fiber cotton, is most frequently implicated in fire, causing injuries and fatalities [1] When ignited, cellulose undergoes thermal degradation, form-ing combustible volatile compounds which become involved in the propaga-tion of fire Fortunately cellulose has a chemical composition which makes it easily amenable to interactive flame-retardant treatments Because flam-mability is a relative rather than an absolute concept, there are no truly flame-retardant fabrics, and the best that can be attained is some given level of flame resistance Barker and Drews [2] proposed that with cellulose, the problem of fire can be described as two distinct phenomena, glowing and flaming, which present different potential hazards and should be ap-proached in different ways Glowing is a direct oxidation of solid cellulose or its degradation products It is generally a slow combustion and is of great concern for only specific items, such as c

Flame-Retardant Treatments of Cellulose and Their Influence on the Mechanism of Cellulose Pyrolysis

As clearly reported in the scientific literature, the history of cotton flame retardancy is very old: this is easily attributable to the chemical and physical properties of this fibre that made it predominant during the 20th century; at present, it is only exceeded in volume by polyester. As a consequence, the huge number of papers published in the scientific literature so far covers an extended period and, sometimes, it could be easy to forget some of the knowledge already developed in the past and to focus the attention on the recent highlights only. Therefore, the present work is aimed to review the most significant scientific and technological results about the flame retardancy of cotton, merging the past experience and the current efforts, trying also to foresee a possible scenario for the next future. After a historical excursus on the achievements up to 2010, the review will summarize the recent developments reached in the so-called “era of nanotechnology” for cotton, as a consequence of the setup of new approaches like nanoparticle adsorption, Layer by Layer assembly and sol–gel processes. Finally, a possible alternative development route indicated by the potential exploitation of bio-macromolecules as green flame retardant systems will be briefly discussed.

Cotton flame retardancy: state of the art and future perspectives

Heating rate effect on char yield from cotton, poly(ethylene terephthalate) and blend fabrics

(1988). The Burning Behaviour of Textiles and its Assessment by Oxygen-index Methods. Textile Progress: Vol. 18, No. 1-3, pp. 1-186.

The Burning Behaviour of Textiles and its Assessment by Oxygen-index Methods

Textile flammability research since 1980 – Personal challenges and partial solutions

Ignition studies on cotton cellulose by DTA

The use of differential thermal analysis has enabled spontaneous ignition behaviour of cotton cellulose to be investigate. The temperature. Ti, at which the onset of spontaneous ignition occurs is recorded as a function of the oxygen concentration of the flowing oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere to which the cellulose sample is exposed in the DTA furnace, when heated at a defined heating rate. The dependence of Ti, on heating rate has enabled the activation energy, Ep, of the rate-determining flammable pyrolysis product reaction to the determined using both a previously derived simple kinetic model and the technique of Ozawa. Ep, increases from a lower limiting value of 112 kJ mol−1 at zero oxygen concentration to an asymptote value of 169 kJ mol−1 at oxygen volume concentrations above 30%. This effect is described in terms of oxygen catalysis of competing pyrolysis routes. At a given heating rate, increased oxygen concentration reduces Ti. A plot of 1/Ti versus In [O2] gives two liner regions which intersect at an oxygen concentration of about 20%, suggesting that two combustion mechanisms exist, one above and the other below this value. Below this concentration, which is similar to the conventional limiting oxygen for cellulose, significant char remains, suggesting that ignition of gaseous products only occurs. If the difference in slopes is sttributed to the variations in Ep with oxygen concentration, then a value for the activation energy of gaseous product oxidation, Eox = 215 kJ mol−1 is derived.

D. Davies

Papers

Ignition studies on cotton cellulose by DTA

The use of DTA to study spontanceous ignition of cellulose