New high-performance, lighter and durable fire retardant fabrics for protective applications

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Performance apparel is one of the fastest growing sectors of the textile industry. The demand for fire-resistant fabrics has increased and will continue to grow as developing economies start regulating protection equipment in their domestic industrial sector. Combination of naturally intrinsically fire-retardant (FR) synthetic materials such as conventional aramids or modacrylic fibers are convenient as they provide a high level of protection, even at a light weight of fabric; allowing flexibility and breathability for the wearer. However, since the cost is very high, it is best to play with different percentage, structure of the yarns and fabric construction to minimise the amount of such fibers while maximising its effect. More recently, new synthetic fibers, such as polyester for instance, have shown inherent FR properties due to the addition of FR additives in the polymer masterbatch, before extrusion. Despite enhancing the durability of the its FR properties, the toxicity and volatility of the additives remain an issue for future commercialisation, since they exhibit limited biodegradability and tend to accumulate in the environment.The proposed project aims to address both the issue of cost and environmental impact without compromising on the performances by developing a new range of FR fabrics which exhibit long-lasting FR performances while maintaining the level of comfort which is expected. This project will explore two different points of view: (1) purely textile-based research on the impact of the fabric structure, from the choice of raw fibers, to the yarn structure and (2) chemical research on ecological durable additives, compatible with fabrics and conventional textile processes.