A Study on the Detergency of Alkali-treated Polyester Fabric - The effects of surface structure-

알칼리 감양가공이 Polyester 직물의 세척성에 미치는 영향 -표면구조의 효과를 중심으로-

To study the effects of surface structure of fiber on the decrement of fatty soil removal at high temperature, the following variables were selected: controled and alkali-treated P.E.T.(polyester) fabrics and chopped fibers as substrates to estimate the detergencies, different aging methods of soiled substrates, and different washing temperatures and surfactant solutions. Radiotagged tripalmitin was used as soil and the detergency was estimated by means of liquid scintillation counting method. The results were as following: The surface of the fiber became rough with many grooves and the hydrophilicity of the fiber was increased and the structure of the fabric became loose by alkali treatment. While the detergency of alkali-treated P.E.T. fabric was better than that of controled P. E. T. fabric, there was no significant differences between the detergencies of controled and alkali-treated chopped fibers. These results indicate that the increment of detergency of alkali-treated P.E.T. fabric is mainly resulted from the changes of fabric structure and the improved hydrophilicity of fiber by alkai treatment. The detergency of tripalmitin was increased with elevating temp. below the m.p. of tripalmitin, was decreased around the m.p., and again was increased above the m.p ..It is considered that the decrement of detergency around the m.p. is due to the diffusion of molten tripalmitin into the grooves on fiber surface, the inner part of fiber, and between fibers. When controled and alkali-treated soiled fabrics and soiled chopped fibers were washed in the distilled water and in the Na-DBS solution respectively, below $60^{\circ}C$ detergencies of alkali-treated fabrics and chopped fibers were improved. However above $60^{\circ}C$ this result was reversed. Therefore these results are regarded as the effects of grooves on fiber surface at high temp. and improved hydrophilicity at low temp. by alkali treatment. When controled and alkali-treated soiled fabrics and soiled chopped fibers were hot-aged before washing, the detergencies of both species were decreased generally. Because the soil was diffused into the grooves on fiber surface, the inner part of fiber, and between fibers during hot-aging. The detergencies of hot-aged species were also decreased above certain temp.. These results suggest that the decrement of detergency at high temp. be resulted not only from the diffusion of soil into the grooves on fiber surface, the inner part of fiber, and between fibers, but also from the characteristics of surfactant solutions.