Fire retardant properties enhancement of cotton twill fabric using pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) extract

Health hazards and environmental pollution are major concerns in present world. So, it is high time to think about ecofriendly and sustainable production. In this study, pumpkin juice has been used as an ecofriendly flame retardant finish to enhance the functionality of cotton twill fabric. The pumpkin juice extracted from the fresh pumpkin without any chemicals. The cotton fabric was treated with pumpkin juice in exhaust method. The treated and untreated samples were characterized by TGA, FTIR, SEM, and EDX. The flame-retardant property of the samples were evaluated based on the LOI and vertical flame tester. The result demonstrated that the treated samples exhibited high fire-retardant properties after being finished with pumpkin juice. The LOI value of the treated samples increased to 29 from 19 after treatment. The main reason behind the increased flammability is the dehydration of pumpkin juice-treated fabric which was clarified from the TG analysis. Moreover, the FTIR, SEM, and EDX report ensured the presence of bound and unbound water molecules, different salt, and several atoms in the samples treated with pumpkin juice that enhanced the protection against the spreading of the fire and thus improved fire-retardant properties of the treated samples.