Flame retardant study of cotton coated with intumescents:Kinetics and effect of metal ions

548-554Oxidative thermal degradation and flame retardant behaviour of cotton fabric coated with intumescent formulationscontaining nanoclay as well as metals (Cr, Cu and Zn) were studied by thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermal analysis(DTA) and limiting oxygen index (LOI). Activation energy of thermal degradation of cotton fabric and coated fabric samples wasdetermined by applying Coats-Redfern method on TG data. Action of intumescent was found concurrent with the process ofdecomposition of cotton fabric on heating. Activation energy of coated fabric with intumescent (165.8 kJ mol–1) was foundlower than that of uncoated cotton fabric (226.5 kJ mol–1), which further decreased on inclusion of metals in intumescentformulations (111-127 kJ mol–1). Char yield for coated fabric with intumescent increased from zero to 11.9% at 600°C. LOIvalue for pure cotton fabric (18%) increased for intumescent-coated fabric (21.8%)