Advanced recycled materials for economic production of fire resistant fabrics

Abstract

Fire protective clothing is crucial in many applications, in military/government (Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Law Enforcement) and industry (working with furnaces, casting, machining and welding). Fire resistant clothes provide protection to those who are at risk for exposure to fire hazards (intense heat and flames) and provide inert barrier between the skin and fire and shields the user from direct exposure to fire and irradiation. Flame retardant and chemical protective apparel consumption was 997 million m2 in 2015. This market size expected to grow more due to substantial increase in military and industrial demand. Advanced materials have long history in these areas to protect human life against the hazards. There are two main application techniques for producing fire resistant clothing: 1) Using fire retardant materials directly in the textile, and 2) Spray coating on the garments. Over the time these physically and chemically treated cloths begin to degrade and become less protective due to UV and moisture exposure, abrasion, wear, and laundry effects which will shorten the useful wear life of those cloths. The study compared the improved fire resistance of fabrics when treated with recycled graphene solution.