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Fibers
Special Issues
Environmentally-sustainable Flame Retardant and Heat Resistant Fibres and Textiles
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Environmentally-sustainable Flame Retardant and Heat Resistant Fibres and Textiles

A special issue of Fibers (ISSN 2079-6439).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2019) | Viewed by 34003

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. A. Richard Horrocks

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Materials Research and Innovation, University of Bolton, Bolton, UK
Interests: Flame retardant, additive, surface treatments, inherent flame retardancy, copolymers, heat resistance, thermal degradation, extrusion, processing, tensile properties, natural fibres, chemical fibres

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fire safety is an increasingly important factor in any society, and both national and international fire regulations in the private, contract, public, and transport sectors often require heat and/or flame retardant (or resistant) fibres present within structures and products comprising fibrous components. These may include fibres for use in textiles, fibre-reinforced composites and nanofibrous arrays. However, there are increasing concerns about associated ecotoxicological and environmentally-sustainable issues regarding the chemical and physical processes involved in their manufacture, application, and end-of-life disposal.

This Special Issue invites papers that focus on environmental sustainability as it relates to heat and/or flame resistant fibre production and processing, and the influence these have on the final structures or products that comprise them. Specific areas include:

  • Development of heat and/or flame resistant, fibre-forming biopolymers;
  • Synthesis and application of biodegradable fibre-forming polymers with heat and/or flame resistance;
  • Environmentally sustainable flame retardant additives and treatments –synthesis, processing and application;
  • Development of high performance, heat and flame resistant fibres based on environmentally-sustainable precursors and processes (including ceramic-based and other inorganic fibres)

I hope that this Special Issue will provide both a snapshot of the state of knowledge within this area and a basis for future research.

Prof. Dr. A. Richard Horrocks
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fibers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Environmental sustainablitiy
  • flame retardant
  • additive,
  • surface treatments,
  • inherent flame retardancy,
  • biopolymers,
  • copolymers,
  • heat resistance,
  • thermal degradation,
  • extrusion,
  • processing,
  • tensile properties,
  • natural fibres,
  • chemical fibres

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 10234 KiB  
Article
Sol–Gel Treatments to Flame Retard PA11/Flax Composites
by Fabienne Samyn, Maxence Vandewalle, Séverine Bellayer and Sophie Duquesne
Fibers 2019, 7(10), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib7100086 - 7 Oct 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4888
Abstract
This work investigates the efficiency of sol–gel treatments to flame retard flax fabric/PA11 composites. Different sol–gel treatments applied to the flax fabrics were prepared using TEOS in combination with phosphorus and/or nitrogen containing co-precursors (DEPTES, APTES) or additives (OP1230, OP1311). When the nitrogen [...] Read more.
This work investigates the efficiency of sol–gel treatments to flame retard flax fabric/PA11 composites. Different sol–gel treatments applied to the flax fabrics were prepared using TEOS in combination with phosphorus and/or nitrogen containing co-precursors (DEPTES, APTES) or additives (OP1230, OP1311). When the nitrogen and the phosphorus co-precursors were used, two coating methods were studied: a ‘one-pot’ route and a successive layer deposition method. For the “one-pot” method, the three precursors (TEOS, DEPTES, and APTES) were mixed together in the same solutions whereas for the different layers deposition method, the three different treatments were deposited on the fibers successively, first the TEOS, then a mix of TEOS/DEPTES, and finally a mix of TEOS/APTES. After deposition, the sol–gel coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscope, electron probe microanalyzer, and 29Si and 31P solid-state NMR. When only TEOS or a mix of TEOS and DEPTES is used, homogeneous coatings are obtained presenting well-condensed Si units (mainly Q units). When APTES is added, the coatings are less homogenous and agglomerates are present. A lower condensation rate of the Si network is also noticed by solid-state NMR. When additives are used in combination with TEOS, the TEOS forms a homogenous and continuous film at the surface of the fibers, but the flame retardants are not well distributed and form aggregates. The flame retardant (FR) efficiency of the different treatments on flax fabrics was evaluated using horizontal flame spread test. The following ranking of the different systems is obtained: TEOS + Additives > TEOS > TEOS + DEPTES ~ TEOS + DEPTES + APTES > multilayers. All the sol–gel coatings improve the flame retardant properties of the flax fabric, except the multilayer treatment. Based on these results, the three most efficient sol–gels were selected to prepare sol–gel-modified flax/PA11 composites. The composite modified with only TEOS showed the best FR properties. Surprisingly, the composite modified with the phosphorus-based flame retardant (AlPi) did not exhibit improved FR properties. This effect was attributed to the fact that the amount of the FR additive deposited on the fabrics was too low. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally-sustainable Flame Retardant and Heat Resistant Fibres and Textiles)
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20 pages, 14597 KiB  
Article
Flammability Characteristics of Animal Fibers: Single Breed Wools, Alpaca/Wool, and Llama/Wool Blends
by Mary L. Galaska, Larry D. Sqrow, J. Douglas Wolf and Alexander B. Morgan
Fibers 2019, 7(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib7010003 - 3 Jan 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 10849
Abstract
Animal protein-based fibers used in textiles often are assumed to have uniform properties independent of source, and yet are different when considering texture, structure, and color. Differences between fibers from animal species have been studied in regard to general flammability behavior, but differences [...] Read more.
Animal protein-based fibers used in textiles often are assumed to have uniform properties independent of source, and yet are different when considering texture, structure, and color. Differences between fibers from animal species have been studied in regard to general flammability behavior, but differences between fibers from breeds of the same species have not been studied. Fibers from two sheep breeds (Jacob, CVM/Romeldale) and two camelids (Alpaca, Llama) were studied for flammability effects on fabrics hand knit from yarns made from these different fibers. A total of five different yarns were studied: 100% Jacob, 100% CVM/Romeldale, 100% Alpaca, 50% Llama/Merino wool, and 50% Alpaca/Merino wool. Flammability was studied with cone calorimeter, microcombustion calorimeter, and vertical flame spread techniques. The results from this limited study demonstrate that there are differences between fibers from different breeds and differences between species, but the differences cannot be easily explained on the basis of inherent heat release or chemistry of the fiber. Sometimes yarn density and the tightness of the knit have more of an effect on self-extinguishment in vertical flame spread tests than does fiber heat release/chemistry. Pure Alpaca fiber, however, displays self-extinguishing behavior and low heat release when subjected to combustion conditions. This may be related to the amount of sulfur in its chemical structure, and its ability to be spun into a yarn which yields a tighter hand-knit density. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally-sustainable Flame Retardant and Heat Resistant Fibres and Textiles)
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11 pages, 6850 KiB  
Article
Flame Retardant Multilayered Coatings on Acrylic Fabrics Prepared by One-Step Deposition of Chitosan/Montmorillonite Complexes
by Federico Carosio and Jenny Alongi
Fibers 2018, 6(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6020036 - 4 Jun 2018
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 8562
Abstract
Multilayered coatings deposited using the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique have attracted great interest in recent years as a sustainable and efficient solution for conferring flame retardant properties to fabrics. The unique structure and interaction established upon the coating assembly are the key factors [...] Read more.
Multilayered coatings deposited using the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique have attracted great interest in recent years as a sustainable and efficient solution for conferring flame retardant properties to fabrics. The unique structure and interaction established upon the coating assembly are the key factors for successful flame retardant properties. In this study we aimed at the deposition of multilayered coatings comprising chitosan and montmorillonite with a LbL-like structure and interactions by the simple processing of compacted chitosan/montmorillonite complexes obtained by the direct mixing of an oppositely charged solution/suspension. Upon drying, the prepared complex yielded a continuous coating characterized by a brick-and-mortar multi-layered structure, in which oriented clay nanoplatelets were held together by a continuous chitosan matrix. When deposited on acrylic fabrics these coatings were able to suppress the melt-dripping phenomenon, and at 10 and 20% add-ons achieved self-extinguishing behavior within a few seconds after ignition. Cone calorimetry testing revealed an increase in time to ignition (up to +46%) and considerable reductions of the rates at which heat is released (up to −62 and −49% for peak of heat release rate and total heat release, respectively). A reduction in the total smoke release (up to −49%) was also observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally-sustainable Flame Retardant and Heat Resistant Fibres and Textiles)
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13 pages, 2539 KiB  
Article
Environmentally Sustainable Flame Retardant Surface Treatments for Textiles: The Potential of a Novel Atmospheric Plasma/UV Laser Technology
by A. Richard Horrocks, Sara Eivazi, Maram Ayesh and Baljinder Kandola
Fibers 2018, 6(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6020031 - 14 May 2018
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 8168
Abstract
Conventional flame retardant (FR) application processes for textiles involve aqueous processing which is resource-intensive in terms of energy and water usage. Recent research using sol-gel and layer-by-layer chemistries, while claimed to be based on more environmentally sustainable chemistry, still require aqueous media with [...] Read more.
Conventional flame retardant (FR) application processes for textiles involve aqueous processing which is resource-intensive in terms of energy and water usage. Recent research using sol-gel and layer-by-layer chemistries, while claimed to be based on more environmentally sustainable chemistry, still require aqueous media with the continuing problem of water management and drying processes being required. This paper outlines the initial forensic work to characterise commercially produced viscose/flax, cellulosic furnishing fabrics which have had conferred upon them durable flame retardant (FR) treatments using a novel, patented atmospheric plasma/Ultraviolet (UV) excimer laser facility for processing textiles with the formal name Multiplexed Laser Surface Enhancement (MLSE) system. This system (MTIX Ltd., Huddersfield, UK) is claimed to offer the means of directly bonding of flame retardant precursor species to the component fibres introduced either before plasma/UV exposure or into the plasma/UV reaction zone itself; thereby eliminating a number of wet processing cycles. Nine commercial fabrics, pre-impregnated with a semi-durable, proprietary FR finish and subjected to the MLSE process have been analysed for their flame retardant properties before and after a 40 °C 30 min water soak. For one fabric, the pre-impregnated fabric was subjected to a normal heat cure treatment which conferred the same level of durability as the plasma/UV-treated analogue. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and limiting oxygen index (LOI) were used to further characterise their burning behaviour and the effect of the treatment on surface fibre morphologies were assessed. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that negligible changes had occurred to surface topography of the viscose fibres occurred during plasma/UV excimer processing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally-sustainable Flame Retardant and Heat Resistant Fibres and Textiles)
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