Evaluation of functional and comfort properties of SA/TDI/PEG1000 adduct treated cotton/polyester blended fabric

Abstract

THE SA/TDI/PEG1000 adduct was synthesized by reacting a mixture of stearyl alcohol (SA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) of molecular weight 400, 1000, 2000, or 6000 Dalton with 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (TDI). The prepared adduct emulsion was incorporated in different easy care finishing formulations to illustrate the impact of that adduct emulsion on the performance, functional and comfort properties of treated cotton/polyester fabric. Among five salts namely ammonium sulphate, magnesium chloride, zinc sulphate, copper sulphate and ammonium chloride examined as catalysts for the aforementioned finishing formulations, ammonium sulphate with a concentration of 6 g/l was the unique catalyst that imparts treated fabric with significant durable functional properties. Furthermore, increasing of the adduct concentration in the finishing bath results in an increase in fabric weight, tensile strength, softness, stiffness, water repellency, antibacterial, water vapor resistance and thermal resistance properties of treated fabric along with a reduction in resiliency and air permeability properties of that fabric. On the other hand, inclusion Ag or TiO2 nano-particles (NPs) in easy care finishing baths containing the SA/TDI/PEG1000 adduct emulsion effectively upgrades the antibacterial properties along with a slight reduction in the water repellency of treated fabric. Furthermore, the morphology of prepared Ag- or TiO2-NPs was characterized via their TEM images. Meanwhile, fabric samples treated with SA/TDI/PEG1000 composites containing such NPs were characterized via their SEM and EDX images as well as TGA analysis.