Studies on the Thermal Degradation of Phosphorus-Containing Polymers

Abstract
Information is given to explain how phosphorus compounds contribute to flame retardance of cotton. The fabric treated with the following retardants can be expected to have effective flame retardance: (1) Phosphorus compounds are in ester-linkage with cellulose chains or are able to esterify with cellulose during pyrolysis. (2) The phosphorus ester groups introduced into cellulose chains are eliminated readily and conjugated double bonds are formed. The ease of formation of double bonds is due to the electron density in the phosphoryl group. The effect of the increase of its electron density leads to an increase of efficiency of flame retardance.