Upcycling of polyester wastes blended bio-based alginate fiber to fire-safety composite applied in the construct field

Abstract

Abstract A depleting fossil reserve and the troublesome recycling corresponding waste is worldwide problem. This work upcycled polyester waste fiber with intrinsic nonflammable bio-based alginate fiber via opening-combing-needle punching technique into a fire-proof building material to reduce waste disposal and carbon footprint. The composite was proved to generate minor amount of smoke and heat, and abundant nonflammable CO2 and H2O in the pyrolysis process.With very limited flammable H2, CO and C2H4, those can be completely diluted by the nonflammable gases. Furthermore, the credible flame-retardant mechanism of fuel-dilution effect was proposed, that was the final formed Ca-C residual chars cooperating with larger number of nonflammable gaseous volatile employed as a natural barrier to impede the heat, O2 and mass transfer, which can dramatically reduce the fire hazard. Taken together, this research recycled the waste chemical fiber into the outstanding fire-proofing composite applied in the construct field by a cost-effective and eco-friendly method.