Influence of the Mercerization on the Croslinking of the Celullose Fibres with BTCA

Abstract

Polycarboxylic acids appear as the most promising nonformaldehyde crosslinking agents to replace the traditional, mostly formaldehyde-based, compounds. Among these acids the most effective is 1,2,3,4-Butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA). Crosslinking agents increase wrinkle resistance, but on the other hand they considerably reduce the mechanical strength of treated cotton fibres. Wrinkle recovery angle and tensile strength are the two most important parameters often used for evaluating the performance of crosslinked cottons. In this study, a comparison of crosslinking effect on mercerized as much as unmercerized and different crosslinked cotton fibres was made with: FTIR measurement, determination of conditioned wrinkle recovery angle, determination of breaking strength and elongation. The purpose of this research was also to evaluate how the structural changes of mercerized cotton influence the crosslinking of the cellulose fibres.