Coating of lightweight wool fabric with nano clay for fire retardancy

Nano-kaolinite was applied to lightweight wool fabric for imparting fire retardant finish using pad batch as well as exhaust method. The effect of fire retardant treatments on the physico-mechanical properties of wool fabric was studied in detail. Nano-kaolinite incorporated fire retardant formulations showed high fire retardant performance in terms of inclined flammability test, limiting oxygen index (LOI) and thermogravimetric analysis. The characterization of nanoparticles was performed using various analytical instruments. The results inferred that nano-kaolinite treatment by both application methods is effective for improving the fire resistance of wool fabric. The treatment resulted up to 32% enhancement in fire retardant properties.