CA1132285A

CA1132285A - Polyvinyl alcohol warp size for filament yarn

Info

Publication number: CA1132285A
Application number: CA326,477A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Richard W. Rees
Original assignee: EI Du Pont de Nemours and Co
Current assignee: EIDP Inc
Priority date: 1978-05-01
Filing date: 1979-04-26
Publication date: 1982-09-21
Also published as: MX149695A; DE2917276A1; JPS54147292A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An improved warp size for filament yarn is provided consisting essentially of polyvinyl alcohol, alkyl phenoxy (or cresoxy) ethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride and a plasticizer such as glycerol or urea, which when applied to filament yarn from aqueous solution provides excellent weaving efficiency and ease or removal combined with low shedding in the loom.

Description

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TITLE
POLYVINYL ALCOHOL WARP SIZE FOR FILAMENT YARN
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field Of The Invention This invention relates to warp sizes and more specifically it relates to an improved warp size for filament yarns based upon polyvinyl alcohol.
Description of The Prior Art Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been tried, repeatedly, as a warp size for polyester filament yarn but has been rejected due to the undesirable quantity of "shed" that accumulates on the loom. This "shed" consists of fragments of the size that are scraped off the individual yarns by the various areas of high abrasion encountered in weaving, for example the resiprocating action of the reed.
As a consequence of this serious problem, PVA is not used as the principle ingredient in polyester filament yarn sizing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a composition consisting essentially of (a) about 100 parts by weight of polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of hydrolysis of from about 88 to about 100 mol %
and a solution viscosity of from about 5 to about 50 mPa.s measured as a 4% aqueous solution at a tempera~r~

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of 20C., (b) from about 0.5 to about 10 parts by weight of cationic surfactant selected from the group consisting of alkyl phenoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides and alkyl cresoxvethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides wherein the alkyl group has 2 to 12 C atoms, and (c) from about 4 to about 50 parts by weight of plasticizer selected from the group consisting of polyhydric alcohol having up to 3 hydroxyl groups and up to 8 C atoms and urea.
Further provided according to the present invention is the above composition in the form of an aqueous solution having a solids content of from about 3 to about 25% by weight.
Detailed Description Of The Invention Information from publications and experts in the field suggested that a high level of adhesion to the fiber substrate was essential for a good aqueous-based size. (C. R. Blumenstein: "An Introduction To The Chemistry and Evaluation of Polymeric Sizes For Filaments" Textile Chemist & Colorist, March 1971).
USP 3,860,553, issued 1975 January 14 to Donermeyer et al., teaches that PVA sizes are extremely poor in adhesion to polyester. Surprisingly, however, excellent performance was achieved on polyester filament yarn by the improved warp size of the present invention by employing a specific type of cationic surfactant and plasticizer selected from the group consisting of polyhydric alcohol and urea in combination with PVA.
Excellent weaving efficiency, ease of removal and low shedding in the loom was obtained.
The polyvinyl alcohol employed in the composition of the present invention should have a degree of hydrolysis of from about 88 to 100 mol % and should have a 4% aqueous solution viscosity in the range of from about 5 to about 50 mPa.s. Preferably the 4% solution viscosity is from about 10 to about 35 mPa.s.
The polyvinyl alcohol can be either a homo-polymer or a copolymer. Copolymer~ can be obtained by alcoholysis ~hydrolysis saponification) of copolymers of ~13228~

vinyl acetate with minor quantities of other comonomers, such as acrylate esters, methacrylate esters, maleate esters and alpha-olefins. The mol ~ range of such comono-mer units is from 0 to about 12% in the PVA.
The cationic surfactant suitable for the present invention is selected from alky~l cresoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides wherein the alkyl group has 2 to 12 carbon atoms. Preferred cationic surfactants are diisobutyl phenoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride (HYAMINE* 1622, available from Rohm and Haas) and diisobutyl cresoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride (HYAMINE 10-X, available from Rohm and Haas). The chemical Abstract nomenclature for HYAMINE 1622 and HYAMINE
10-X is N,N-dimethyl-N-[2-[2-[4-(1,1,3,3,tetramethyl butyl) phenoxy]ethoxy]ethyl]benzenemethanaminium chloride and N,N-dimethyl-N-[2-[2-[4-(1,1,3,3,-tetramethyl butyl) cresoxy]
ethoxy]ethyl]benzenmethanaminium chloride respectively.
The HYAMINE surfactant should be present in the amount of from about 0.5 to about 10 parts by weight based upon 100 parts of PVA. Preferably the HYAMINE
surfactant is present in the amount of from about 1.0 to about 3.5 parts by weight per 100 parts of PVA.
The third ingredient is plasticizer selected from the group consisting of polyhydric alcohol which has up to three hydroxyl groups and up to 8 carbon atoms and urea. Suitable polyhydric alcohols include glycerol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol and diethylpropane-diol. The most preferred plasticizers are glycerol and urea. Texturized polyester yarns exhibit wide variations in surface and physical characteristics. For tender, low strength, zero-twist yarns, selection of glycerol as the plasticizing ingredient gives the best results (as in Example 3 below). In the case of highly crimped, high denier yarns, as in Example 9 below, urea is preferred over glycerol The amount of plasticizer in the warp size * denotes trade mark ~;
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g composition of the present invention should be from about ~ to about 50 parts by -~eight based upon 100 parts by weight OL P~JA. Prererably the plasticizer should be present in the amount of fro~ about 8 to about 25 parts by weight per 100 parts of P~
For certain styles or yarn and fabric the PVA
based ~arp size of the present invention can also be used advantageously in combina~ion with other aqueous sizes, such as acrylic polymers or polyester dispersions.
Of course,optionally other ingredients, for example lubricating agents, such as self-emulsifying low melting waxes may be included in the warp size of the present invention as one might desire without materially affecting the basic and novel characteristics of the present ~arp sizing composition.
The warp sizing of the present invention is applied to the filament yarn from an aqueous solution having a solids content of rrom about 3 to about 25 weight percent, preferably from about 5 to about 12 weight percent, by well-~nown slashing methods.
The temperature of the size solution should be between 40 and 90C. Either single or multiple size bo~es may be used. After removal of excess size solution by passage bet~een squee~e rolls, the sized yarn is dried ~5 by contact with multiple drying cans heated to temperatures of 100 to 125C, split by stationary lease rods, and wound as a weaving beam. The slashing o~eration is conducted at speeds of 10 to 100 meters/min. Essential properties of the size include (a) absence of excessive foaming in the size box, (b) no sticking of polymer to the drying can, (c) clean splittinq at the lease bars without breakage of ends or filaments, and (d) easy separation of the si~ed yarns when entering into the loom harness.
r~eaving may be performed with conventional shuttle looms, air-jet looms, rapier looms or shuttle-less weaving machines. Essential characteristics are (a) production of first-quality cloth, (b) loam efficiency of 90% or greater, and (c) absence of loom fouling by ;

powdery or paste-like deposits.
During finishing, the size is removed by scouring with detergent solutions and hot water. It is highly desirable that the size should be completely removed from the cloth, using water at moderate temperatures t50-80C), without the use of chemical additives such as sodium hydroxide or carbonate.
All these desired characteristics are obtained by the use of the compositions disclosed in this applicatio~.
The following examples are given for the purpose of illustrating the present invention. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.
EXI~1PLE 1 A solution of 10 g of polyvinyl alcohol (degree of hydrolysis 99.0-99.8 mol %, 4% aqueous solution viscosity at 20C 27 mPa.s) 0.2 g of HYAMINE
1622 and 1.0 g of glycerol in 115 g of water was prepared by stirring for one hour at 70C. The solution was clear and deposited a flexible stretchable film when dried. It was maintained at 70C while about a 30 m length of smooth filament polyester yarn was passed through it, followed by hot air drying. The slashed yarn was compact and exhibited excellent resis-tance to abrasion.

Identical to Example 1, except the amount of glycerol employed was 1.3 g. The slashed yarn was compact and exhibited excellent resistance to abrasion.

A solution of 45.36 kg of polyvinyl alcohol employed in Example 1, 0.92 kg. of HYAMINE 1622 and

2.95 kg of glycerol in 0.26 m3 of water was prepared by stirring at 80C in a commercial cooking kettle.
The soluticn was then transferred to a commercial COLEMAN COCKER* slasher and was applied to 1000 m of air-entangled texturized polyester yarn (3726 ends).
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Operating characteristics were satisfactory, and no end-breaks or filament breakage occurred. The slashed yarn was stiff, smooth and well bonded. Size add-on was 12%
(based on yarn weight). Cloth was woven from the slashed warp, using a high speed SULZER* shuttle-less weaving machine. Weaving efficiency was over 90% and the quantity of shed was sufficiently small to cause no problems.
Quality of the cloth was excellent. The cloth was finished in a c~nventional range and outstanding size removel was observed.

Example 3 was repeated, except that solution solids content was reduced from 10% to 7.5% and a high speed WEST POINT* slasher was used instead of the Coleman Cocker slasher. 3728 ends were slashed, with no breaks or broken filaments. The weaving proceeded at 95.4~
efficiency, with negligible shedding, and size removal was excellent. The add-on of size was 4.7% in this test.
EXAMPLES 5 to 8 The experiments tabulated below were conducted with a small CALLAWAY* slasher, operating on 100 ends of texturized polyester yarn. Abrasion resistance was measured by a reciprocating reed tester, operating at 1 cycle per second for 15 minutes. Size compositions were applied from an a~ueous solution having a solids content of 8.7-9% by wt.
Size Composition,parts Resistance to Size Add-on by wt. Sheddingwt %
Ex. PVA HYAMINE 1622 Glycerol 5 100 2 13 Excellent9.5-10 6 100 2 18 Very good.9.5-10 7 100 2 22 Good. 9.5-10 8 100 1 13 Fairly good. 9.5-10 Control Example A
Omission of HYAMINE 1622 from Example 1 gave a limp yarn, with surface blisters, and a tendency to stick together on the beam due to surface tackiness. Bonding was fairly poor, and abrasion resistance was only fair.

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Control Example B
Substitution of dimethyl distearyl ammonium chloride for HYAMINE 1622 in Example 1 gave a limp, hairy yarn having poor resistance to abrasion.
Control Example C
The same blend described in Example 3 was run under the same conditions, except that the glycerol was omitted. Operating characteristics were quite satisfac-tory, and weaving efficiency was over 9o%~ However, heavy shedding occurred during weaving so that the loom reed and other components were covered with a deposit of fibrous particles. Careful cleaning of the loom was needed before further weaving could be carried out.
Control Example D
420 g of polyvinyl alcohol employed in Example 1, 10 g of dimethyl distearyl ammonium chloride, and 62 g of glycerol was dissolved in 5500 cm3 water, and was applied to texturized polyester yarn in the Callaway slasher to give an add-on of 8.6% by wt. Abrasion testing produced a copious deposit of shed on the reed.
The cationic content was then increased by adding 5.0 g ~total 15 g]. Add-on was 8.1% and abrasion resistance was marginally improved, but still unsatisfactory.
In the same series of experiments, 420 g of polyvinyl alcohol, 8.4 g of HYAMINE 1622, and 55 g of glycerol gave a yarn with 9.3% add-on which produced only very light, non-fibrous shed when tested under the same conditions.
Control Example E
350 g of PVA employed in Example 1 and 70 g of dimethyl distearyl ammonium chloride was dissolved in 5580 cm3 of water and was slashed on texturized polyester yarn. Abrasion testing produced a heavy deposit of fibrous shed on the reed.
Control Example F
10 g of PVA employed in Example 1 and 2 g of N-alkyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (ARQUAD* 18-15 * denotes trade mark . . ~ . .

1~32Z85 available from Armak Company) were dissolved in 140 ccs water. The viscous solution was cast on a Mylar~
polyester sheet and allowed to dry. The film was very soft and exhibited poor abrasion resistance and adhesion.
Example 9 A 10~ solids solution of size was prepared from the following solid ingredients: PVA employed in Example 1, HYAMINE 1622 and urea in the proportions of 100:2:13 parts by weight by stirring and heating to 85C. This size was used to slash four different types of texturized polyester yarn and one type of non-texturized polyester yarn. In each example, 50 ends were slashed, using a small Callaway slasher. In all cases, satisfactory operation was observed with no breakage of filaments.
The yarns were all stiff and compact, with adequate characteristics for entering into a loom. Abrasion tests, using a reciprocating reed tester, demonstrated very light to moderate shedding in four out of the five examples. The fifth yarn contained an excessive quantity 2Q of processing oil so filament bonding was somewhat deficient. This test demonstrated excellent performance for most types of texturized yarn and for smooth filament yarn.
Example 10 A 19.3% solids solution of size comprising PVA
employed in Example 1, HYAMINE 1622 and urea in the proportions of 100:2:13 parts by weight was prepared by stirring and heating to 88C. This viscous solution was diluted to 10% solids and used to slash 4000 ends of 30 150 denier texturized polyester yarn. 2000 meters of slashed yarn were collected as a beam, and woven on a Sulzer loom. Good weaving efficiency was recorded (90~) and the level of shedding was desirably low. Size add-on was 7.8~.

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Claims

1. A composition consisting essentially of (a) about 100 parts by weight of polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of hydrolysis of from about 88 to about 100 mol % and a solution viscosity of from about 5 to about 50 mPa?s measured as a 4% aqueous solution at a tempera-ture of 20°C., (b) from about 0.5 to about 10 parts by weight of cationic surfactant selected from the group consisting of alkyl phenoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides and alkyl cresoxyethoxyethyl dimethyl-benzyl ammonium chlorides wherein the alkyl group has 2 to 12 carbon atoms, and (c) from about 4 to about 50 parts by weight of plasticizer selected from the group consisting of polyhydric alcohol having up to 3 hydroxyl groups and up to 8 carbon atoms, and urea.

2. The composition of Claim 1 wherein said polyvinyl alcohol has a solution viscosity of about 10 to about 35 mPa?s.

3. The composition of Claim 2 wherein said cationic surfactant is selected from the group consisting or diisobutyl phenoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride and diisobutyl cresoxyethoxyethyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride.

4. The composition of Claim 3 wherein said cationic surfactant is present in the amount of from about 1.0 to about 3.5 parts by weight.

5. The composition of Claim 4 wherein said plasticizer is urea.

6. The composition of Claim 4 wherein said polyhydric alcohol is selected from the group consisting of glycerol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, and diethylpropanediol.

7. The composition of Claim 6 wherein said polyhydric alcohol is glycerol.

8. The composition of any one of Claims 5, 6 and 7 wherein said plasticizer is present in the amount of from about 8 to about 25 parts by weight.

9. The composition of any one of Claims 1, 5 and 7 in the form of an aqueous solution having a solids content of from about 3 to about 25% by weight.

10. The composition of any one of Claims 1, 5 and 7 in the form of an aqueous solution having a solids content of from about 5 to about 12% by weight.