Inherently flame retardant regenerated cellulose fibres -1st update

Got a little bit long time to publish my 1st blog in the “Blogspot” since I had to face continuous changes during my Research Assistant Internship due to lab requirements as well as COVID restrictions. I am working with one of the projects of “Textile and Fashion 2030” where the school has been assigned by the government to establish and lead the national platform for sustainable fashion and sustainable textiles in collaboration with the (RISE) Research Institutes of Sweden. The main and initial part of the research has been done by the researcher at RISE and I had to conduct fellow testing procedures to see further criteria.

Untreated regular cellulosic fibers such as viscose, cotton, and linen can easily catch on fire and spread if not protected against fire. Flame retardants can be added to the fabrics to avoid ignition or slow down the fire spread for application in workwear used for firefighters and similar workplaces with a higher exposure risk. Most flame retardants were developed as finishing agents (coatings) to attach to the fiber/fabric physically or chemically. To ensure the proper functionality, coated flame retardants potentially must be reapplied. Moreover, the chemicals used in FR-coating lead to environmental and human health concerns.

As an alternative emerged inherently flame-retardant fibers, as for example regenerated cellulose fibers- viscose, can incorporate the flame retardant into the cellulose solution with the incorporation of silica nanoparticles. Silica nanoparticles are known as low-cost, earth-abundant material and potentially low environmental and human toxicity. Since a knowledge gap still exists for the technique, I am doing a literature review and leachability test to investigate this further.

Hope I can share, clear and more reliable findings of the above points in my next update.