Development and performance analysis of flame-retardant polylactic acid elastic bands for thermal protective clothing

AbstractThe burning and melting of elastic fastening bands in high-temperature environments are major contributors to empyrosis and ambustion owing to their snug fit to human body parts in practical usage. Conventionally fabricated fastening bands show poor degradation, negative environmental impact, and poor flame-retardant performance. Herein, we report an ecofriendly cyclic phosphate ester-based flame-retardant polylactic acid (PLA) elastic band prepared using an impregnation-baking process, and experimental investigation was conducted on the optimized finishing process. The band was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry. The band exhibited a damage length of 3.9 cm after vertical combustion and self-extinguishing effect after being removed from the fire source without generating molten droplets. The cross-linking phenomenon between the modified PLA fibers was beneficial in improving the flame retardancy of the PLA elastic band in the condensed phase. The strength loss of the band was <5%. Thus, the prepared band can be widely used in real-world applications.Keywords: Antidrippingbakingblast dryercross-linkinggraphitizationorganophosphorus Disclosure statementThe authors report there are no competing interests to declare.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant number 2019YFA0706900 and Jiangsu Provincial Policy Guidance Programme-International Cooperation Projects under Grant number BZ2020010.