Fire retardant finish of jute fabric with nano zinc oxide

Nano zinc oxide (ZnO) was applied on bleached jute fabric to impart fire retardant finish. Nano zinc oxide was prepared from aqueous Zinc acetate by co-precipitation method in the presence of NaOH followed by calcination at 600 °C. It was then applied on the jute fabric using an aqueous solution of Potassium Methyl Siliconate as dispersing media by pad-dry method. Among different dosages of nano ZnO treatment, application of a 0.01% nano ZnO on jute fabric showed reasonably good fire retardant performance. Nano ZnO powder so produced was characterized by confirming particle size and its distribution along with XRD. Nano zinc oxide particles coating on treated jute fabric was evidenced by FTIR, EDX, AAS and SEM analysis. Analysis of physical properties of the coated jute fabric has shown some extent of reduction in fabric tenacity, whiteness index and increase in stiffness as compared to untreated bleached jute fabric. The coating had reasonably good LOI values for as many as five wash cycles.