Development of non-combustible weaveable yarn through oxidative control of a textile acrylic fibre

Abstract

Acrylic fibre is considered to be artificial wool in the textile industry, but in contrast with natural wool, it vigorously burns producing black smoke and toxic gases. This not only has hindered its technical applications, but also poses safety risks to the end-users of acrylic-based products. This research aims at enhancing the fire-retardancy of acrylic yarns using a facile thermal stabilisation process which is based on controlling the oxidation temperature and residence period. To this end, acrylic yarns are thermally processed according to six different time and temperature profiles ranging from 220 to 280 °C, with residence periods ranging from 22 to 28 min. The oxidised yarns were characterised using FTIR, DSC, and TGA techniques and the effects of the oxidative thermal treatment on physical characterises, and surface morphology of yarns and fibres were discussed. The results showed that the acrylic yarn undergone the oxidation process based on 240–255–270–280 °C heating profile for 28 min at each step had a sufficiently high degree of cyclisation with an excellent fire retardancy. Furthermore, the stabilised acrylic yarn was strong enough to be woven into a plain weave fabric using a laboratory scale loom while displaying non-combustible behaviour during cyclic exposure to flame. These results present a novel pathway for the development of a low cost, non-combustible fabric ideally suited for applications in extreme environments.