Durable flame retardant and mechanism of bamboo fabric through grafting based on arginine

In this present work, an efficient flame retardant (the ammonium salt of tetrakis(phosphonomethyl)arginine, ATTPMA) was synthesized without organic solvents. Then it was grafted onto bamboo fabric through P–O–C covalent bonds. Thus, the durable flame-retarding bamboo fabric was fabricated successfully. The results of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared and scanning electron microscope proved the successful grafting. The flame retardancy was testified by vertical burning and limiting oxygen index (LOI) tests. The char length was only 4.8 cm and the LOI increased to 50.2%. Besides, the value of LOI was still 44.5% after 50 laundering cycles owing to the durability of P–O–C bonds. The char residue in thermogravimetric under N2 reached 46.6% proving the improvement of thermal stability. The result of the cone calorimetry tests showed the peak heat release rate and total heat release decreased 95.0% and 68.3%, respectively. The appearance of dense char layer and the change of gas release proved that the flame retardant acted in both condensed and gaseous phases. In summary, this flame retardant has promising prospects in bamboo fabric.