Bio-macromolecules: A New Flame Retardant Finishing Strategy for Textiles

Nowadays, the seeking for new, low environmental impact flame retardants (FRs) has pushed the scientific community toward the assessment of feasibility of selected bio-macromolecules as potential FRs for textiles (namely, cotton, polyester and their blends). In fact, such products as some proteins (caseins, whey proteins, hydrophobins, …) and nucleic acids exhibit a chemical composition comprising those elements (namely, phosphorus, nitrogen and/or sulphur), which are able to provide the treated fabrics with FR features. In other words, the biomacromolecules-treated fabrics show an enhanced resistance to flame spread and heat flux. There are different possibilities for applying such bio-macromolecules to the fabric substrates: in particular, impregnation/exhaustion methods and layer by layer treatments can be successfully exploited. This chapter is aimed at summarizing the recent advances on the use of different bio-macromolecules as “green” FR systems, also discussing the current limitations of this “bio-strategy” and some possible perspectives for the next future.