Textile Chemical Finishing And Its Mechanisms

In final finishing, with its great range of desired and undesired effects, the task of a textile finisher can become demanding has to consider the compatibility of the different type of finishing products and treatment, in particular their mutual influence on the desired effects. With about different type of finishes and several finishing agents, most of which are combined to give one-bath multipurpose finishes. Chemical finishing need a solid basis of textile chemical knowledge and technical understanding as well as some practical experience. The term finishing, in a broad sense covers all the processes which the fabric undergoes after leaving the loom or the knitting machine to the stage at which it enters the market. This the term also includes bleaching, dyeing, mercerizing etc. but normally the term in restricted to the final stage in the sequence of treatment of woven fabrics after bleaching and dyeing. However fabrics which are neither bleached nor dyed are also finished. Some finishing processes such as creping of silk and rayon, mercerization of cotton or crabbing of wool are carried out a part of the fires phase of fabric treatment or over earlier, in the form of yarn. Hence finishing is the term usually employed for processes. The appearance may by qualitatively describe as clear or fibrous, fine or course, lustrous or matt, plain or patterned and smooth or uneven. These descriptions may be considered as the two extremes in each pair and the actual fabric appearance may range between them. The fabric may not have the best in all these pairs for example; a clear finished fabric can be either lustrous or matt. Similarly the handle of fabric may be soft or crisp, flexible or stiff and fall or compact. The fabric texture may be close or open light or heavy, loose or firm flat or raised and uniform or varied. Clarity of fabrics is necessary to display colour, structure, and pattern or to present a smooth plain appearance and uniform texture. A clear fabric should not have any fiber ends protruding form its surface.

Mechanisms Of The Softening Effect.

Softeners provide their main effects on the surface of the fabrics. Small softener molecules, in addition, penetrate the fiber and provide an internal plasticization of the fiber forming polymer by reducing of the glass transition temperature. The physical arrangement of the usual softener molecules on the fiber surface is important and shown in Fig.-1. It depends on the ionic nature of the softener molecule and the relative hydrophobicity of the fiber surface. cationic softeners orient themselves with their positively charged ends toward the partially negatively charged fabrics (zeta potential),creating a new surface of hydrophobic carbon chain that provide the characteristic excellent softening and lubricity seen with cationic softeners. Anionic softener, on the other hand, orients themselves with their negatively charged ends repelled away from the negatively charged fiber surface. This leads to higher hydrophilicity, but less softening than with cationic softeners. The orientation of non-ionic softeners depends on the nature of the fiber surface, with the hydrophilic portion of the softener being attracted to hydrophilic surfaces and the hydrophobic portion being attracted to hydrophobic surface.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

+
-

Hydrophobic part of softener molecule cationic hydrophilic group Anionic hydrophilic group Non-ionic hydrophilic group Fiber surface with partial negative charge.

Fig. 1 Schematic orientation of softeners on fiber surface (a) Cationic softener and (b) Anionic Softener at fiber surface Non-ionic softener at (c) hydrophobic and (d) hydrophilic fiber surface. a) Cationic Softeners. The typical cationic softener structure for example, N,N- distearyl-N, N-dimethyl ammonium chloride(DSDMAC).Cationic softeners have the best softeners and are reasonably durable to laundering. They can be applied by exhaustion to all fibers from a high liquor to goods ratio bath they provide a hydrophobic surface and poor rewetting properties, because their hydrophobic group are oriented away from the fiber surface. They are usually not compatible with anionic product. Cationic softeners attract soil, may cause yellowing upon exposure to high temperatures and way adversely effect the light fastness of direct and reactive dyes. Inherent ecological disadvantages of many convential (unmodified) quaternary ammonium compounds (quaternaries)are fish toxicity and poor biodegradability. But they are easily removed from waste water by adsorption and by precipitation with anionic compound. Quaternaries with ester groups, for example triethanol amine esters, are biodegradable, through the hydrolysis of the ester group. The example of an ester quaternary in Fig.-2 is synthesized from triethanolamine, esterified with a double moler amount of stearic acid and then quaternarised with dimethylsulfate.
-

X =HSO4 or R =(CH2)n CH3 R2= CH3

Quaternary ammonium salt.

NH3 X

R = Long alkyl chain

R3

Amine Salts.

CH3 (CH2 )16 C

Imidazolines.

N CH2 N CH2

R 3 = H or CH2 CH2 NH2

Fig.-2. Chemical structure of typical cationic softeners.

CH3 N R2 X CH3
+

b) Anionic Softeners. Anionic softeners are heat stable at normal textile processing temperature and compatible with other components of dye and bleach baths. They can easily be washed off and provide strong antistatic effects and good rewetting properties because their anionic groups are oriented outward and are surrounded by a thick hydration layer. Sulfonates are, in contrast to sulfates, resistant to hydrolysis Fig.-3.They are often used for special applications, such as medical textiles, or in combination with anionic fluorescent brightening agents

O SO3 Na

R = Long alkyl chain

Alkylsulfate salt

SO3 Na

R = Long alkyl chain

Alkylsulfonate salt Fig.-3. Chemical structures of typical anionic softeners. c) Non-Ionic Softeners Based On Paraffin And Polyethylene. Polyethylene can be modified by air oxidation in the melt at high pressure to add hydrophilic character (mainly carboxylic acid group).Emulsification in the presence of alkali will provide higher quality more stable products. They show high lubricity that is not durable to dry cleaning they are stable to extreme pH conditions and heat at normal textile processing condition, and compatible with most textile chemicals.

CH3 (CH2 )n CH3

Polyethylene

O(CH2CH2O)m H

R = Long alkyl chain

Ethoxylated fatty alcohol

R4 C O(CH2CH2O)m H
Ethoxylated fatty acid

R4 = (CH2)n CH3

Fig.-4. Chemical structures of typical Non-ionic softeners.

d) Amphoteric Softener. Typical properties are good softening effects, low permanence to washing and high antistatic effects. They have fewer ecological problems than similar cationic products. Examples of the betaine and the amine oxide type are shown in Fig.-5.

CH3 N O CH3

R = Long alkyl chain

Alkyldimethylanime oxide softener.

CH 3 H3C N CH C O H3C R

CH 3 R N CH2 CO CH3

CH3

R C N (CH2)3 N
CH3

Betaine Softeners

Fig.-5.. Chemical structure of typical amphoteric softeners.

e) Silicone Softeners. None-ionic and cationic examples of silicone softeners are shown in Fig.-6.They provide very high softeners, special unique hand, high lubricity, good sewbability, elastic resilience, crease recovery, abrasion resistance and tear strength. They show good temperature stability and durability, with high degree of permanence for those products that form cross linked films and a range of properties from hydrophobic to hydrophilic.

CH3 CH3

CH3 CH3

CH3 CH3

CH3 Sio Sio Si CH3

Polydimethyl silicone

CH3 CH3

CH3 CH3

CH3

CH3 Sio Sio

X

Sio Si CH 3
R
n Y

OH

R =(CH 2)3OCH CHCH N (CH )

2 2 3

Cationic silicone softener. Fig 6. Chemical structures of typical silicone softeners.