Exploring methods to increase the tensile and tear strengths of 100% cotton print cloth

摘要

As part of our program to discover new uses for cotton and other forms of cellulose, we prepared methyl, allyl, crotyl, and epoxy crotyl celluloses and studied their NMR, mechanical, and dynamic mechanical properties. In addition, we turned our attention to the development of polymers to treat cotton fabrics to increase their tensile and tear strengths. While mercerization increases the average strength of cotton fibers and fabrics, crosslinking and other finishing treatments decrease it. Our ultimate goals are to develop a single treatment containing polymer mixtures that can provide durable press fabrics with increased tensile and tear strengths, dye absorption, heat printing capabilities, and antimicrobial properties, and then use this information to design new composite fabrics with cotton. Poly(ethylene glycols and oxides) PEG, and PEO, respectively, and poly(propylene glycols and oxides) PPG and PPO, respectively, are known to be compatible with cotton; therefore, we decided to prepare their dibromides and bis-triallyl quaternary ammonium bromides in order to study their effects on the tensile and tear properties of fabrics upon either grafting or entanglement (Figure 1). In this first report we discuss (a) the syntheses and NMR characteristics of the PEO and PPO dibromides and their bis quaternary ammonium bromides, (b) methods to graft or entangle them on cotton, and (c) the tensile and tear properties of treated fabrics.