Abstract
Cotton-polyester blends pose a special flammability problem because the thermal and mechanical properties of the fibers are so different. Cotton tends to char on heating but generally maintains some structural integrity; polyester normally melts and flows at temperatures of ca. 260°C. If a mixture of the two fibers is burned, the molten polyester frequently tends to wick on the cotton char, resulting in the phenomenon of scaffolding detailed by Kruse.(1) Because of these effects, it is impossible to predict a priori the flammability of the blend on the basis of the behavior of the individual component fibers; thus, Tesoro and Meiser(2) have shown that needle-punched webs prepared from 50:50 blends of cotton and polyester exhibited oxygen indices lower than those of either fiber alone in a similar structure. The hazard in the case of apparel may be further increased by the tendency of the molten polyester to cling to the body of the person wearing the garment, thus causing severe burns on its own.
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Jarvis, C.W., Barker, R.H. (1978). Flammability of Cotton-Polyester Blend Fabrics. In: Lewin, M., Atlas, S.M., Pearce, E.M. (eds) Flame - Retardant Polymeric Materials. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6973-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6973-8_5
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