Sustainable,\nScalable, and Highly Flame-Retardant\nCellulose-Containing Fabrics

Polyester-cotton fabrics (PCFs) combine the advantages\nof polyester\nand cotton, offering durability, moisture absorption, and breathability,\nmaking them widely used in workwear, home decoration, and other applications.\nHowever, the flammability of PCFs limits their use in certain areas.\nIn this work, we develop a two-step flame-retardant modification process\nthrough Michael addition and prepolymerization reactions. Using a\nsimple two-step chemical modification, we produce PCFs with excellent\nflame-retardant properties. The modified PCFs achieved a limiting\noxygen index of 32.7, demonstrating good flame resistance. During\ncombustion, the flame-retardant PCFs can generate a large amount of\nnoncombustible gases and phosphorus-containing substances, forming\na uniform carbon layer on the fabric’s surface, thereby exhibiting\nsuperior flame-retardant property. The flame-retardant modification\nprocess developed in this work uses water as the solvent throughout,\nmaking it environmentally friendly and providing a new approach for\nthe functional modification of cellulose-containing fabrics.