Effect of chicken‐feather protein‐based flame retardant on flame retarding performance of cotton fabric

ABSTRACT A new kind of eco‐friendly chicken‐feather protein‐based phosphorus–nitrogen‐containing flame retardant was synthesized successfully with chicken‐feather protein, melamine, sodium pyrophosphate, and glyoxal. And its structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the thermogravimetry of the agent was analyzed. Then the flame retarding performances of the chicken‐feather protein‐based flame retardant and in combination with the borax and boric acid in application to a woven cotton fabric were investigated by the vertical flammability test and limited oxygen index test. In addition, the surface morphologies of the treated and untreated fabrics were conducted by the scanning electron micrographs (SEM), and the thermogravimetric analyses of the treated and untreated cotton were explored, and the surface morphologies of char areas of the treated and untreated fabrics after burnt were tested by the SEM. The results showed that the flame retardancy of the cotton fabric treated by the chicken‐feather protein‐based flame retardant in combination with borax and boric acid was improved further, and the combination of the chicken‐feather protein‐based flame retardant and borax and boric acid could facilitate to form a homogenous and compact intumescing char layer, and the combination of them plays a good synergistic effect in the improvement of the flame retardancy of the treated cotton fabric. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40584.