Flame Retardant Functionalization of MicrocrystallineCellulose by Phosphorylation Reaction with Phytic Acid

Hua-Bin Yuan, Ren-Cheng Tang *, and Cheng-Bing Yu

College of Textile and Clothing Engineering,  Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China, China National Textile and Apparel Council Key Laboratory of Natural Dyes, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Textile Dyeing and Printing for Energy Conservation, Discharge, Reduction and Cleaner Production (ERC), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.

Abstract: The functionalization of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is an important strategy for broadening its application fields. In the present work, MCC was functionalized by phosphorylation reaction with phytic acid (PA) for enhanced flame retardancy. The conditions of phosphorylation reaction including PA concentration, MCC/PA weight ratio and temperature were discussed, and the thermal degradation, heat release and char-forming properties of the resulting PA modified MCC were studied by thermogravimetric analysis and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry. The PA modified MCC, which was prepared at 90 ◦C, 50%PA and 1:3 weight ratio of MCC to PA, exhibited early thermal dehydration with rapid char formation as well as low heat release capability. This work suggests a novel strategy for the phosphorylation of cellulose using PA and reveals that the PA phosphorylated MCC can act as a promising flame retardant material.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 9631