Flame retardancy and UV protection of cotton based fabrics using nano ZnO and polycarboxylic acids

► ZnO nanoparticles were applied on cellulosic fabrics. ► Application was through different polycarboxilic acids with SHP as catalyst. ► Effect of concentration of SHP on flammability and UV-protection are investigated. ► 6% SHP increase the flame-retardant of the treated cellulosic fabrics. This research mainly deals with a novel flame-retardant and UV-protection for cellulosic fabrics using ZnO nanoparticles. We present the preparation and application of ZnO nanoparticles. The size of the prepared nanoparticles was analysed using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The application of nano ZnO on cellulosic fabrics (cotton 100% and cotton/cotton polyester 65/35%) was achieved by using different polycarboxilic acids (succinic acid [SA] and 1,2,3,4-butane tetracarboxilic acids [BTCA]) with sodium hypophosphite (SHP) as catalyst through conventional pad-dry-cure method. The effect of concentration of SHP on the physical properties, flammability and UV-protection of cross-linked fabrics are investigated. The effect of concentration of zinc oxide nanoparticles and the effect of curing temperature were also investigated. The results revealed the importance of SHP in increasing the flame-redundancy of the treated cellulosic fabrics.