Wet-Fixation Durable-Press Process—Reactions with Cellulose

Abstract

The nature and extent of the reactions involved in the two-step, wet-fixation durablepress process of Getchell and other processes have been determined by means of a periodate oxidation method. The wet-fixation, durable-press process is shown to differ from the acid colloid process and other wet-fixation procedures. The variations show up in terms of the concentration of the methoxymethylol compound and reactant fixed on the fiber and the extent to which covalent crosslinking of cellulose occurs.The results indicate that in the wet-fixation, durable-press process the methoxymethylmelamine results in only a relatively low degree of cross-linking, but it is, nevertheless, durably fixed to the fabric, probably as a low molecular-weight polymer. It also appears to interact with and moderate the strong cross-linking tendency of the reactant. Predrying the fabric before wet-fixation leads to a greater degree of crosslinking. The nature of the reactant influences the results obtained. The degree of methoxymethylation of the melamine compound also has an effect on the final result which appears to be related to the ability of the methoxymethylmelamine to resist the rinsing (neutralization) step after wet fixation which, in turn, appears to be related to the tendency of the various methoxymethylmelamines to form low polymers.

Structural Features of Cotton Treated by Pad-Dry-Cure, Mild-Cure, Poly-Set, and Wet-Fix Processes

“…structure (noncollapsed) in the fiber (by comparison to that cross-linked by the pad-dry-cure process). This is shown by the higher moisture regain reported by Hollies [ 10 ] and Honold [12], by the higher accessibility of periodate reported by O'Brien et al [ 14 ) , and by the rather complete expansion of thin cross sections of wet-fix cotton (either fixed-only or fixed and cured) when subjected to the methacrylate expansion technique (pad-dry-cure compositions did not expand). These expansion patterns reported by Rollins [ 18] for wet-fix cottons characterized by 4-6% add-ons are in contrast to earlier results reported by Hollies [10] for samples with substantially higher add-ons.…”

Crosslinking structures and dyeing kinetics of cotton cellulose treated with a steeped process

“…Some previous studies [1][2][3] have shown that the finishing process, the swelling state of the crosslinked fibers, and the crosslinking agents can affect the crease recovery properties of crosslinked fabrics. Our previous report 4 showed that some physical properties were improved by the polymerization of crosslinking agents in the treated fabrics.…”

“…Direct Red 81 with a molecular weight of 676 g/mol was used to study the pore structures of the steeped-procedure-treated fabrics. We studied the pore structure by using the following diffusion equation: 6,7 a ϭ a e ͓1 Ϫ exp͑ Ϫ kC 0 t͔͒ n ϭ a e ͓1 Ϫ exp͑ Ϫ kЈt͔͒ n (1) where a is the absorption of the dye on cotton in time t, a e is the equilibrium absorption at t 3 ϱ, k is the specific rate constant, kЈ is the rate constant, C 0 is the concentration of cotton in a finite bath, and n is the structural diffusion resistance constant. The higher n is, the larger the pore size is of the treated fabric.…”

Improved Cotton DP Through Dry-Cure Deposition of Polymers Containing Reactive Groups1

“…Prahl [6] showed correlations between physical parameters of the polymer deposit and final fabri,c characteristics. In wet polymer-deposition studies [3,4,5] (so-called wet fixation processes), the swelling of the fiber and thereby, its penetration by the monomer and the final polymer distribution are emphasized. In still another direction, the latent reactivity of the deposited polymer with the cross-linking agent is being in-, vestigated [9,10] .…”