Easy care of silk fabrics realized by crosslinking thermo‐responsive copolymer film on its surface

Abstract

AbstractAn easy care of silk fabrics is realized by crosslinking a thermo‐responsive copolymer film onto its surface. The thermo‐responsive copolymer poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐oligo[ethylene glycol] methyl ether methacrylate‐co‐ethylene glycol methacrylate), abbreviated as P(NM‐co‐OA300‐co‐EA360), is synthesized by sequential atom transfer radical polymerization. By applying 1,2,3,4‐butanetetracarboxylic acid as crosslinker, the thermo‐responsive P(NM‐co‐OA300‐co‐EA360) film can be immobilized onto the silk fabrics. The transition temperature (TT) of the P(NM‐co‐OA300‐co‐EA360) film crosslinked on silk fabrics is around 46 °C. The reversible transition behavior can effectively reduce the attachment between lipophilic stains and P(NM‐co‐OA300‐co‐EA360) film, inducing a high efficiency of stain removal. Simply rinsing with deionized water at 25 °C (below its TT) for 30 s, 60% of stains can be removed. Moreover, the crosslinked P(NM‐co‐OA300‐co‐EA360) film turns hydrophobic during outdoor activities or drying. Thus, the repelled water molecules can be easily evaporated from the silk fabrics and the drying process is 25% faster than that without crosslinked P(NM‐co‐OA300‐co‐EA360) film. Based on the excellent performance of stain removal and quick drying, the silk fabrics crosslinked with thermo‐responsive copolymer film can be broadly used to design silk‐based costumes for daily use.