Thermal behaviour and the cone calorimetric analysis of the jute fabric treated in different pH condition

In this paper, the effect of pH, i.e. acid and alkali was investigated on thermal stability of ligno-cellulosic polymeric fibrous (jute) material. The jute fabric was subjected to treatment under different pH, namely 4.5, 7, 10, 12, i.e. in acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions followed by drying prior to any thermal and physical characterization. The improvement in the thermal stability of jute to flame was measured in terms of limiting oxygen index value, vertical flammability and temperature profile of burning zone. Likewise thermo-gravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and cone calorimeter analysis were also used to elucidate the improvement in thermal stability of the treated fabric. The changes in heat release rate, mass loss rate, heat of combustion, smoke production, etc., in the untreated and treated sample were measured in detail in cone calorimeter. Only the alkali-treated jute fabric samples showed profound improvement in thermal stability.