In everyday life, textiles used by people are mainly made from natural fibers, synthetic fibers, and artificial fibers. These materials are flammable or combustible, and once ignited, the fire can spread rapidly, posing significant risks to life and property.
To prevent fire incidents, flame retardant materials play a crucial role. Using textiles with flame retardant properties in specific environments can weaken the conditions for combustion, slow down the spread of fire, and provide people with time to evacuate or take firefighting measures.
Many developed countries have long adopted flame retardant products to prevent severe fires in public places and ensure personal safety. Currently, numerous countries and regions have established comprehensive regulations and standards in this regard.
Flame retardant fabrics have gained increasing attention. The flame retardancy of textiles does not mean that they won’t burn when exposed to fire but rather that they can delay the spread of flames and improve the resistance to ignition, self-extinguishing, and smoke suppression of flammable materials.
Which materials are naturally flame retardant in fabrics?
In fabrics, there are several natural materials that possess inherent flame retardant properties. These include:
Modacrylic fiber:
Modified polyacrylonitrile fiber is sometimes also referred to as “Acrylonitrile Chlorine Fiber” and possesses excellent flame retardant properties.
Aramid:
Aramid fiber, known for its permanent flame retardancy, is renowned for its advantages such as high temperature resistance, high strength, high abrasion resistance, and low shrinkage.
Wool:
Wool fabric possesses inherent flame retardancy and does not melt, drip, or stick to the skin when it burns. Due to the structural arrangement of wool fibers, wool typically requires more oxygen to become flammable. Therefore, wool is an excellent material in terms of fire resistance.
Silk:
Silk has a certain level of flame retardancy. Specifically, the flame propagation rate after burning silk protein is relatively slow, and it is capable of self-extinguishing some flames before automatic extinguishing, indicating that it possesses a certain degree of flame retardant effect.
Flax fiber:
Flax has excellent flame retardant properties. Among all textile fibers, flax fiber is one of the best materials in terms of flame retardancy, making it widely used in fields that require high flame resistance, such as firefighting, aviation, aerospace, and architectural decoration.
Hemp fiber:
Hemp is a natural fiber with a high cellulose content, which gives it a lower burning rate and duration. Some studies have shown that hemp yarn exhibits good flame retardant properties in vertical burning tests.
Polypropylene:
Polypropylene itself has a certain level of flame retardancy, but it is not very strong. In order to enhance the flame retardant properties of polypropylene, flame retardants such as halogen-antimony system, inorganic fillers (such as aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide), and phosphorus-based flame retardants are typically added to it. These flame retardants can slow down the thermal decomposition rate of polypropylene, suppress its combustion process, and provide better flame retardant effects.
The above are some commonly used flame retardant materials. Generally speaking, some natural fibers have high fire resistance and tend to burn slowly, self-extinguish, or form a char layer, acting as a barrier to further combustion.
