Determination of the phosphorus content on
PADEP-coated cotton
Treated fabric samples taken from different parts of
fabric specimens were cut into small pieces. Concentrated
H2SO4 (2 mL) was added to 0.1 g of the sample
in a bottle. Then 10 mL of 30% H2O2 was added
dropwise to the mixture which was stirred by a
magnetic stirrer on a hot plate, allowing the reaction
to subside between drops. The mixture was then
stirred and heated on the hot plate for 1 h. After
that, the completely digested sample as a clear viscous
solution was transferred to a 50 mL volumetric
flask, and then carefully diluted with distilled water.
The sample thus prepared was analyzed with a
Perkin–Elmer Model PLASMA-1000 inductively
coupled plasma/atomic emission spectrometer (ICP/
AES) to determine the percent concentration of phosphorus.8
As emission spectroscopy can be susceptible
to interfering species, validity of the technique
was evaluated by preparing control samples with
a known amount of phosphorus added to the
untreated fabric and its phosphorus content was
checked by the method above.
Surface characterization of the modified cotton
FTIR-ATR and SEM were used to characterize the
surface of untreated and the PADEP-coated cotton.
The polymer film coated on the treated cotton was
analyzed on an FTIR-ATR spectrometer (Nicolet
model Nexus 670). The surface of the untreated and
treated cotton was examined by SEM using a Jeol
SEM model JSM 5200-2AE.
Thermal analysis
The thermal properties of untreated and PADEPcoated
cotton using 31 mM ADEP were investigated
by using a TGA analyzer. The TGA apparatus was a
Perkin–Elmer Model TGA 2550 operating under N2
atmosphere with platinum pan containing 25–30 mg
of cotton. The runs were carried out at a temperature
ranging from 30 to 6008C at a heating rate of 108C/
min under a continuous N2 flow of 100 mL/min.