Effect of Preswelling Treatments on the Properties of Cotton Fibers Crosslinked with 1,2,3,4 Butanetetracarboxylic Acid

Abstract

Relations were studied between fiber structure and mechanical properties of cotton fibers crosslinked with 1,2,3,4 butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA). BTCA was either applied directly to the fibers (NPT) or after they had received a swelling treatment with caustic soda (MER), liquid ammonia (LAT), or monomethylamine (MMA). In some instances BTCA was applied before the caustic treated fibers had been dried (NDMER). The water retention value (WRV) of MER fibers was markedly higher than that of NPT, LAT, or MMA fibers. After BTCA treatment, however, the WRV of MER fibers fell sharply, but that of MMA or LAT samples did not. Thus the WRV s of BTCA MER and NDMER fibers approached those of MMA and LAT products. The breaking force of BTCA fibers approached the same value at high BTCA contents, with or without mercerization or methylamine preswelling. It appeared that LAT cotton might retain greater strength than the other samples at high BTCA contents. The breaking extensions of BTCA fibers that had received a preswelling treatment were higher than those of fibers that had not been pretreated. Properties of MER and NDMER BTCA fibers were similar, even though it appeared that the BTCA was more uniformly distributed in the NDMER fibers. The breaking twist angle ( BTA ) was determined as a measure of brit tleness ; the BTA relation with extension for the BTCA samples was similar to a previously determined relation for cotton treated with dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea.