Improving the flame retardancy of PET fabric by photo-induced grafting

Photo-induced surface grafting with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) as monomer in association with a pad-curing treatment by using a flame retardant (FR) solution which contains 1-hydroxy ethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) and sulfamic acid (H2NSO3H) has been used to improve the fire performance of PET fabric in this study. The effects of initiator concentration, monomer concentration and the irradiation time on the grafting percentage were investigated. The chemical structure of grafted surface of the PET fabric was characterized by an attenuated total reflection-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. The fire performance was evaluated by the LOI and the vertical flammability tests, and the results indicate that the photo grafting treatment could improve the flame retardancy and dripping resistance of PET fabric. Thermal behaviour of treated PET fabric samples was investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC). The morphology of the sample char residue was also investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM).