Treating Cotton Fiber with BTCA with the Use of Metal Oxide as Co-catalyst

摘要

Fabrics finished with DMDHEU are susceptible to formaldehyde release, and high concentrations of formaldehyde have been reported to cause cancer in animal studies. Due to toxicity of DMDHEU, the polycarboxylic acid class of non- formaldehyde crosslinking agents for wrinkle-resistant treatment was introduced. The crease resistance performance established on cotton fabric was based on the following steps: (i) Anhydride intermediates were formed for estherification crosslinking of cellulose. Two adjacent carboxylic group dehydrate and transfer into cyclic acid anhydrides under heat curing (ii) The acid anhydrides underwent estherification reaction with hydroxyl groups on the cellulosic macromolecules in the presence of catalyst. Among various researches, 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) was a desirable reactant when catalyzed with sodium hypophosphite (SHP). However, detailed information on the characteristics of TiO2 or nano-TiO2, which acts as a co-catalyst, in a BTCA wrinkle-resistant finishing system is still lacking, but will be examined in this study. Surface morphology and molecular structure of cotton specimens will be investigated. Furthermore, the wrinkle-resistant, and tearing properties of the treated specimens will also be evaluated.