Chitosan-metal oxide nanoparticle hybrids in developing bi-functional polyamide 66 textiles with enhanced flame retardancy and wettability

•TiO2/SiO2 NPs based bi-functional PA66 textiles were developed.•The flame retardancy and wettability were significantly increased.•TiO2/SiO2 nanoparticles along with CS improved the LOI value by 23.5%.•CS/TiO2/SiO2 complexes reduced the wetting time to 47 s.•CS/TiO2/ SiO2 formulation enhanced the hydrophilicity markedly. Polyamide textiles with multi-functional properties have received a huge attention in the technical textile field due to their excellent physical properties; however, their easy ignition and relatively hydrophobic nature quench their potential application. Thus, in this work, bi-functional polyamide 66 (PA66) textiles with improved flame retardant and wettability properties were developed using metal-oxide nanoparticles, namely TiO2 and SiO2 in the presence of chitosan (CS) in a simple dip-coating technique. The application of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles with CS escalated the limiting oxygen index (LOI) value up to 23.5% along with a significant reduction in the peak heat release rate (pHRR) by 31%. In line, an enhanced level of wettability was achieved as a much lowered water contact angle value of 10˚ was realized. In sum, such finishing was found to be a semi-durable one in the laundering test with a slight deterioration in the handle and tensile properties. [Display omitted]