Flame retardant finishings by sol-gel technique

This paper describes the use of sol-gel treatments for conferring flame retardant features to cotton. To this aim, a phosphorus-containing alkoxysilane (namely, diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane) has been applied in consecutive depositions on textile samples. Furthermore, azo-based compounds have been reacted with diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane to investigate the effect of the concurrent presence of Si, P and N on the flame retardancy of the cellulosic fabrics, assessed through flammability and cone calorimetry tests. The obtained results have shown that phosphorus is able to promote an additive effect with the sol-gel derived oxide phases in terms of increased residue and decreased heat release rate and total burning time.