ABSTRACT

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is extensively used in the production of fibers and films and now increasingly used as container material for soft drink due to its outstanding characteristics of high strength, good flexibility, and thermal stability, but their uses are limited by their combustibility. So, it is necessary to achieve flame retardant PET fabrics. Nowadays, continuous growth in the world’s population and improvements in living standards have required textiles with new functions to meet market needs. Therefore, imparting flame retardant PET fabric with multifunctional properties is still meaningful and challenging.

According to our group member’s previous work, APP and MDH combination could impart PET good flame retardancy. Moreover, due to narrow band-gap (1.1 eV), good chemical stability and excellent optical limiting properties, Ag2S semiconductor has been used in optical and electronic devices.
In this work, knife coating technique has been employed to deposit complex architectures: APP, MDH and polyacrylic resin as an organic binder, impart PET fabrics flame retardancy, meanwhile, Ag2S as a nanofiller, which may impart PET fabrics with multifunctional properties.

According to TEM, SEM, XRD results, successfully synthesized Ag2S with different morphologies: irregular shape nanoparticles and hierarchically porous hollow octahedrons. With the addition of irregular Ag2S nanoparticles, FR-PET/Ag2S achieved the better fire retardant property compared with FR-PET fabric (APP/MDH = 2/1). The pHRR from the cone test decreased by 52.9% due to the formation of more compact char layer with fewer pores. What is more, with the addition of irregular Ag2S nanoparticles, the FR-PET/Ag2S fabrics got efficient self-cleaning property.

The design and application of particular nanostructure may enlighten a rational route to impart matrix material multifunctional properties with addition of as few as possible varieties.