A Simple Approach to Design Fabric with Flame-Retardant and Pattern Function

The study of fabrics’ flame retardant properties has always been a hot topic in the field of textiles. In this paper, a flame-retardant fabric with a sandwich structure was obtained by combining hydrogel patch method and in-situ polymerization technology via a two-step method. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the hydrogel could improve PLA materials’ thermal stability effectively. The hydrogel treated fabrics’ limiting oxygen index (LOI) value increased from 21.05% to 80.00%. The cone calorimeter test demonstrated that the pHRR and THR of the hydrogel treated fabrics decreased to 51.48% and 55.97%, respectively. After adding a mixture of ferric oxide and mica during the in-situ polymerization of the hydrogel, the pHRR and THR of the obtained fabric decreased to 43.77% and 46.00%, respectively, compared to the original PLA fabric. Furthermore, the mechanical strength test showed that the introduction of hydrogel patch had almost no effect on the mechanical properties of PLA materials. In addition, by using the way that metal ions can be arranged into a special array on the magnetic induction line, under the synergistic effect between ferric oxide and mica, the array formed by the ferric oxide particles on the magnetic induction line was designed with a series of patterns on its surface. Finally, a kind of textile with flame retardant properties and different patterns was obtained.