Improvement of various properties of fiber surfaces containing crosslinked polyethylene glycols

Abstract

AbstractModification of a variety of fabric and fibrous surfaces was achieved by insolubilization thereon of crosslinked polythylene glycols (called POLYTHERM) to impart several useful properties: thermal storage and release, improved resiliency and resistance to oily soiling, static charge, pilling, wear life, and marked increases in hydrophilicity among them. Moreover, these improved properties were durable because up to 70% of the crosslinked polyol was retained after 50 launderings. Such modification was achieved by using average molecular weights of the polyols ranging from 600 to 20,000 by crosslinking with polyfunctional methylolamides (such as DMDHEU) in the presence of acid catalysts by a conventional pad‐dry‐cure textile finishing procedure. The role of crosslink density of the polyol in determining textile properties was determined by evaluation of films derived from crosslinking the polyols and comparison of selected properties.