Construction of thermally resistant and flame-retardant multifunctional polyester composite fabrics

The development of thermally resistant textiles with fire safety using thermo-expandable hollow microsphere (TEHM) has garnered significant interest. In this study, TEHM and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) were bonded to polyester fabric surface by using polyurethane coating. The surface morphology, thermally resistant, flame-retardant performance and mechanism of the developed PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric were investigated. The PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric exhibited the reduced thermal conductivity of 0.07458 W/m·K from 0.13120 W/m·K of pristine PET fabric. The thermal conduction and radiation performance of the PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric decreased owing to the low thermal conductivity of the expanded TEHM. The PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric presented a damaged length of 13.5 cm without melt dripping, achieving the B1 classification. The peak heat release of the PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric decreased by 58.3% versus pristine PET fabric according to cone calorimetry test. PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric also had an FRI of 1.001, showing ‘Good’ flame retardancy performance. TG-IR and char residue analyses suggested that the flame retardancy of PET@TEHM/APP composite fabric improved by the synergic flame-retardant action in both gas and condensed phases.