Wovens & Nonwovens

Measure Fire Retardants and UV Stabilizers

Fabrics fall into two broad categories: wovens and nonwovens. A woven is a cloth formed by weaving and only stretches in the bias directions unless the threads are elastic. Nonwoven fabrics are broadly defined as sheet or web structures bonded together by entangling fiber or filaments created by mechanical, thermal, or chemical processes.

Flame retardants are chemicals used in thermoplastics, thermosets, textiles, and coatings that inhibit or resist fire spread. These can be separated into several different classes of chemicals: minerals, antimony compounds, halogens, and phosphates.

Minerals include aluminium hydroxide ATH, magnesium hydroxide MDH, hydromagnesite, red phosphorus, and borates. Organohalogen compounds include organochlorines, organobromines such as decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), decabromodiphenyl ethane, brominated polystyrenes, brominated carbonate oligomers (BCOs), brominated epoxy oligomers (BEOs), tetrabromophthalic anyhydride, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). Antimony trioxide is widely used along with antimony pentoxide and sodium antimonate. Organophosphorus compounds in common use include organophosphates, such as tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate, TPP, RDP, BPADP, tri-o-cresyl phosphate, and phosphonates such as DMMP and phosphinates. There is also an important class of flame retardants containing phosphorus and halogen, including chlorophosphates like TMCP and TDCP. For all of these applications, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an ideal tool for both quality control and product validation.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are common dopants used in nonwovens to stabilize fabric against prolonged exposure to sunlight and other UV light sources. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) can be used for both quality control during the manufacturing process and to validate the product for end-users of fabric.