Effect of Preswelling Treatments on the Properties of Cotton Fibers Crosslinked with 1,2,3,4 Butanetetracarboxylic Acid

Abstract

Relations were studied between fiber structure and mechanical properties of cotton fibers crosslinked with 1,2,3,4 butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA). BTCA was either applied directly to the fibers (NPT) or after they had received a swelling treatment with caustic soda (MER), liquid ammonia (LAT), or monomethylamine (MMA). In some instances BTCA was applied before the caustic treated fibers had been dried (NDMER). The water retention value (WRV) of MER fibers was markedly higher than that of NPT, LAT, or MMA fibers. After BTCA treatment, however, the WRV of MER fibers fell sharply, but that of MMA or LAT samples did not. Thus the WRV s of BTCA MER and NDMER fibers approached those of MMA and LAT products. The breaking force of BTCA fibers approached the same value at high BTCA contents, with or without mercerization or methylamine preswelling. It appeared that LAT cotton might retain greater strength than the other samples at high BTCA contents. The breaking extensions of BTCA fibers that had received a preswelling treatment were higher than those of fibers that had not been pretreated. Properties of MER and NDMER BTCA fibers were similar, even though it appeared that the BTCA was more uniformly distributed in the NDMER fibers. The breaking twist angle ( BTA ) was determined as a measure of brit tleness ; the BTA relation with extension for the BTCA samples was similar to a previously determined relation for cotton treated with dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bertoniere, N.R. , and King, W.D. , Effect of Scouring/ Bleaching, Caustic Mercerization and Liquid Ammonia Treatment on the Pore Structure of Cotton Textile Fibers, Textile Res. J. 59, 114-121 (1989).

Buschle-Diller, G. , and Zeronian, S.H. , Enhancing the Reactivity and Strength of Cotton Fibers, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 45, 967-979 (1992).

DeGruy, I.V. , Carra, J.H. , and Goynes, W.R. , "The Fine Structure of Cotton," R. T. O'Connor , Ed., Marcel Dekker, NY, 1973, p. 46.

DIN Deutsche Normen 54270, part 3, 1977.

French, A. D., Private communication.

Gardon, J.L. , and Steele, R. , Some Theoretical Considerations of Cellulose Crosslinking , Textile Res. J. 31, 160-171 (1961).

Klenkova, N.I. , Kulakova, O.M. , Matveeva , N.A. , and Volkova, L.A. , Influence of Primary Aliphatic Amines on the Structure and Reactivity of Cotton Cellulose Fibers, J. Appl. Chem. USSR 38, 906-911 (1965).

Nevell, T.P. , and Zeronian, S.H. , The Effect of Pefiodate Oxidation and the Subsequent Borohydride Reduction on the Tensile Strength of Cotton, J. Textile Inst. 53, T90-93 (1962 ).

Nevell, T.P. , and Zeronian, S.H. , The Action of Ethylamine on Cellulose, Part I: The Acetylation of Ethylamine-treated Cotton, Polymer 3, 187-194 (1962).

10.

Nuessle, A.C. , Fineman, M.N. , and Heiges, E.O.J. , Some Controversial Aspects of Crease-resistance of Cellulosic Fibers, Textile Res. J. 25, 24-40 (1955).

11.

Rousselle, M.A. , Nelson, M.L. , Hassenboehler , C.B. , Jr., and Legendre, D.C. , Liquid Ammonia and Caustic Mercerization of Cotton Fibers: Changes in Fine Structure and Mechanical Properties, Textile Res. J 46, 304-310 (1976).

12.

Welch, C.M. , Tetracarboxylic Acids as Formaldehyde-Free .Durable Press Finishing Agents, Part I: Catalyst, Additive, and Durability Studies, Textile Res. J. 58, 480-486 (1988).

13.

Welch, C.M. , and Andrews, B. A. Kottes , Ester Crosslinks : A Route to High Performance Nonformaldehyde Finishing of Cotton, Textile Chem Color. 21(2), 13-17(1989).

14.

Zeronian, S.H. , Intracrystalline Swelling of Cellulose, in "Cellulose Chemistry and Its Applications" T. P. Nevell , and S. H. Zeronian , Eds., Ellis Horwood Ltd., Chichester, U.K., 1985, pp. 159 et seq.

15.

Zeronian, S.H. , The Mechanical Properties of Cotton, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. Appl. Polym. Symp. 47, 445-461 (1991).

16.

Zeronian, S.H. , Bertoniere, N.R. , Alger , K.W. , Duffin, J.L. , Kim, M.S. , Dubuque, L.K. , Collins, M.J. , and Xie, Q. , Effect of Dimethyloklihydroxyethyleneurea on the Properties of Cellulosic Fibers, Textile Res. J. 59, 484-492 (1989).

17.

Zeronian, S.H. , Bertoniere, N.R. , Alger , K.W. , and Xie, Q. , The Effect of Cross-linking with Dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea on the Mechanical Properties of Liquid Ammonia-Treated Cotton Fibres, J. Textile Inst. 81, 310-318 (1990).

18.

Zeronian, S.H. , Bertoniere, N.R. , Kim , M.S. , and Xie, Q. , Effect of Fine Structure and Morphology on the Properties of Crosslinked Cellulosic Fibers, in "Cellulose Sources and Exploitation" J. F. Kennedy , G. O. Phillips , and P. A. Williams , Eds., Ellis Horwood, Chichester, England, 1990 , pps. 203-209.