Tunable thermal and flame response of phosphonated oligoallylamines layer by layer assemblies on cotton.

In the present paper we have demonstrated how the change of the layer by layer deposition parameters can influence the final properties of cotton fabrics in terms of coating morphology, thermal stability and flammability. To this aim, novel synthetized oligoallylamines and phosphonated oligoallylamines have been assembled on the surface of cotton exploiting different molecular weights and pH conditions. Low molecular weights have yielded an incomplete "island growth" coating while high molecular weight resulted in a homogeneous coating which thickness was controlled by the adopted pH.

Intrinsic intumescent-like flame retardant properties of DNA-treated cotton fabrics.

In the present work, the effect of different DNA add-ons (namely, 5, 10 and 19 wt.%) has been thoroughly investigated as far as the flammability and the resistance to an irradiating heat flux of 35 or 50 kW/m(2) are considered. The results have shown that 10 wt.

Thermal stability and flame resistance of cotton fabrics treated with whey proteins.

It is well described in the literature that whey proteins are able to form coatings, which exhibit high mechanical and oxygen barrier properties, notwithstanding a great water vapour adsorption. These peculiarities have been exploited for applying a novel protein-based finishing treatment to cotton and for assessing the protein effect on the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability and on the flame retardant properties of the cellulosic fabric. Indeed, the deposited whey protein coatings have turned out to significantly affect the thermal degradation of cotton in inert and oxidative atmosphere, and to somehow modify its combustion when a flame has been applied.

Polylactic acid and polylactic acid-based nanocomposite photooxidation.

The importance of photooxidation in promoting formation of anhydride functional groups and thus promoting hydrolysis/biodegradation of polylactic acid and PLA nanocomposites were elucidated. PLA-based nanocomposites were prepared by adding 5% wt filler content of sodium montmorillonite (ClNa), sodium montmorillonite partially exchanged with Fe(III) (ClFe), organically modified montmorillonite (Cl20A), unmodified sepiolite (SEP), and fumed silica (SiO2). The pure PLA and nanocomposites were UV-light irradiated in artificial accelerated conditions representative of solar irradiation (λ > 300 nm) at 60 °C in air.