Melt-blown polypropylene nonwovens with lowered flammability

In seeking new possibilities to lower the flammability of textiles made fro m polypropylene, the application of the pneumothermic (,,melt-blown") metho d has been considered as a way to obtain nonwovens having fire retardant pa rticles combined with their component fibres. So far the above method has b een applied by the Textile Research Institute in Lodz, Poland in the manufa cture of polypropylene nonwovens for filtration of air and some liquid medi a. As result from the experiments carried out, the application of highly di sintegrated fire resistant particles in liquid polymer streams before their solidification into fibres makes it possible to obtain nonwovens with lowe red flammability. Some well-known pw retardants (as melamine cyanurate and ammonium polyphosphate) have been tested in the experiments but the best re sults have been obtained for a non-typical system: polyvinyl chloride - ant imony trioxide. The obtained nonwovens have been examined in view of their five properties. Electron microscopy and mechanical tests haw also been use d to examine the properties of nonwovens.