A New Textile Sizing Prepared by the Hemp Core Cellulose Ethers

Abstract

As the key process of weaving, sizing is one of the processes which are of great costly and serious pollution in the whole cotton-textile production chain. Great efforts had been made to study new sizing to reduce costs and environment pollution. In this paper, Methyl cellulose ether (MC) and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose ether (HPMC) were prepared by the hemp core and further used as a textile sizing. The chemical structure of the hemp cellulose ether was characterized by the FTIR analysis. The paste viscosity was tested by the Viscometer. The sizing properties of hemp cellulose ether were evaluated by the weaving process. The results indicated that the wrap breakage rat, weft breakage rate and loom efficiency of MC and HPMC blended sizing was similar to those of PVA sizing. Compared to COD in the desizing wastewater of 3600 mg/L of PVA, the COD of hemp sizing was very small. It was 330 mg/L. Therefore, it is concluded that the hemp core ether is a new and environment-friendly textile sizing, which has low cost and contributes a healthier ecosystem.