Abstract
The effects of mixed acid catalyst and silicone softeners on the in-situ polymerization and crosslinking (IPC) treatment of cotton fabrics were studied.4 mixture of magnesium chlo-ride and citric acid was used to catalyze the crosslinking reaction of cellulose with N-mothy-lolacrylamide, and the performance properties of treated fabrics were evaluated as compared with those treated with zinc nitrate, a classical DP catalyst. Three types of silicone softeners including aminofunctional polydimethylsiloxane, reactive polydimethylsiloxane of high viscosity, and hydroxy-end blocked reactive polydimethylsiloxane of low viscosity were each applied to the fabrics pre-treated with NMA by two step steam fixation process. The results indicate that the highly active mixed catalyst facilitates low temperature curing, which is beneficial when silicone sorttener is applied to NMA finished fabrics, providing better DP performance with a higher retention of mechanical properties. In conjunction with IPC treatment with NMA, silicone softeners significantly improve tear strength and abrasion resistance and wrinkle recovery angle. Thereby, 20% reduction in the amount of resin application may be achieved for satisfactory levels of DP performance when silicone softeners are used.