2010-Effects of Alternative Ionic Crosslinking Methods on Physical Performance of Cotton Fabric

Effects of Alternative Ionic Crosslinking Methods on Physical Performance of Cotton Fabric


Umut Kivanc Sahin, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey


Introduction

Use of quaternary compounds in modification of cotton for further use in finishing and dyeing started in mid 70s with amination prior to dyeing, which brought savings in fixing agent, rinse water and dye needed. Many other researchers worked with cationic agents and reported positive results, some of which are increase in dyeability, decrease in amount of electrolyte needed, higher color yield, shorter processing time, less need for water and chemicals and thus energy savings in dyeing, increased wash fastness and processing speed in printing, and increase in antimicrobial activity.
Detailed information on reactions of 2,3 epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride and
comparison of commercial dyeing procedures for conventional and cationic cotton is given elsewhere.
Studies on the use of cationic agents to increase wrinkle recovery angle (WRA) of cotton fabrics are rather new. General application includes treating cotton with materials that impart an ionic character to cellulose which can then sorb a polyelectrolyte of opposite charge to form crosslinks.
Cationic chitosan and cationic glycerin are reported as suitable cationic crosslinkers to give high WRA performance in ionic crosslinking of anionic cotton fabric. The effect of cationization procedure on performance of cationic cotton crosslinked with an anionic agent needs to be investigated.
In this study, we treated cotton with chloroacetic acid and then ionic crosslinked it with cationic glycerin (CG). Alternatively, we treated cotton with 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (CHTAC) and then ionic crosslinked it with butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA).
Our results showed that making cotton anionic and then crosslinking it with a polycation results in higher dry and wet wrinkle recovery angle, whiteness, breaking strength, elongation and energy to peak load in both warp and filling directions with higher increase in stiffness when compared with making cotton cationic and then ionic crosslinking it with a polyanion.