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

For the first time, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from herring sperm has been employed as a novel flame retardant system for enhancing the thermal stability and flame retardant properties of cotton fabrics. Indeed, DNA could be considered an intrinsically intumescent flame retardant as it contains the three main components that are usually present in an intumescent formulation, namely: the phosphate groups, able to produce phosphoric acid, the deoxyribose units acting as a carbon source and blowing agents (upon heating a (poly)saccharide dehydrates forming char and releasing water) and the nitrogen-containing bases (guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine) that may release ammonia. The flammability tests in horizontal configuration have clearly shown that after two applications of a methane flame for 3 s, the DNA-treated cotton fabrics do not burn at all. Furthermore, when exposed to an irradiative heat flux of 35 kW m−2, no ignition has been observed. Finally, an LOI value of 28% has been achieved for the treated fabrics as opposed to 18% of the untreated fabric.

DNA: a novel, green, natural flame retardant and suppressant for cotton

Green DNA-based flame retardant coatings assembled through Layer by Layer

Effect of phosphorus and nitrogen on flame retardant cellulose : A study of phosphorus compounds

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.

James E. Bostic

Papers

Pyrolysis and combustion of cellulose. I. Effects of triphenyl phosphate in the presence of nitrogenous bases

Tris(1,1,1,2,2,3,3‐Heptafluoro‐7,7‐Dimethyl‐4,6‐Octanedionato)iron(III) and Related Complexes