Preparation of a flame retardant, antibacterial, and colored silk fabric with chitosan and vitamin B2 sodium phosphate by electrostatic layer by layer assembly

Chitosan and vitamin B2 sodium phosphate were used as assembly agents to prepare the flame retardant, antibacterial, and colored silk fabric by an electrostatic layer by layer assembly padding technique. The effects of assembly bilayer number on the flammability and thermal degradation of silk fabric as well as the morphological structure of the unburned and burned silk fabrics were studied, and the antibacterial activity of the treated fabric was evaluated. At 5 and 10 assembly bilayers, the treated fabrics had a limiting oxygen index of 28.9% and 32.8%, respectively, and their residual char length in the vertical burning test was shorter than 15 cm, revealing their good flame retardancy. The treated fabric exhibited great antibacterial ability as indicated by the inhibition rate against both S. aureus and E. coli of higher than 90%.