Flammability and Thermal Behaviour of Cotton Fabric Coated with Intumescent System Containing Inorganic Additives

In this study, cotton fabric was coated with intumescent formulations containing different supporting inorganic additives (aluminium trihydrate, zinc borate and zeolite) alongwith kaolin nanoclay using K-control coater. The thermal study of fabric samples was studied using thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry techniques. The burning behaviour of cotton fabric samples was evaluated by auto flammability test. The thermal analysis shows that the onset degradation temperature of the coated cotton fabric is lowered and char yield is increased in comparison to pure cotton fabric. In auto flammability test, a significant reduction in flame spread time is observed on inclusion of supportive inorganic additives along with kaolin nanoclay into intumescent formulation coated onto the cotton fabric indicating better flame retradancy.