Phytic acid: A bio-based flame retardant for cotton and wool fabrics
Kesavarao Sykam, Michael Försth, Gabriel Sas, Ágoston Restás, Oisik Das
Abstract
Phytic acid (PA) is one of the widely used flame retardants (FRs) to treat a variety of fabrics owing to its high phosphorus content of ca. 28 wt% (with respect to its molecular weight), abundance, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility. The current review discusses the state-of-the-art of PA-based FRs for natural fabrics such as cotton and wool. The possibilities of making PA and FR-based multi-functional cotton fabrics having antimicrobial, conductive, hydrophobic properties are reported by virtue of the synergistic benefits associated with chitosan, silicon, nitrogen, and boron-based molecules. The factors influencing the FR behaviour as well as the durability of PA-based cotton and wool fabrics are discussed with respect to the concentration of PA, pH of the coating solution, temperature, and preparation methods. Holistically, PA has been proved to be a potential alternative to halogenated FRs to confer fire retardant property to cotton and wool fabrics.