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Flame Retardant Cotton Blend Highlofts
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ABSTRACT Highloft nonwovens are low density fabrics characterized by a high ratio of thickness to weight per unit area. They are usually made of synthetic fibers. Introducing cotton into highloft fabrics is the focus of the present research effort. The major problems with cotton are its high flammability and lack of resiliency. The objective of this research was to carry out single bath chemical finishing of perpendicular-laid highlofts to impart improvements in both flame resistance and fiber resiliency. We developed a finishing formulation containing the flame retardant diammonium phosphate/urea and a crosslinking agent DMDHEU. The formulation was successful in imparting flame resistance to these highly flammable fabrics, protecting 100% of the fabrics. Using the vertical flame test, the damage sustained was limited to charring in the vicinity of the instigating flame. The crosslinking agent was effective in improving compressional resistance and recovery. The finishing treatment produced value-added FR/resilient P-laid cotton blend highlofts. |
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN |
Document last modified May 20, 2002
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