Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M13/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with non-macromolecular organic compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment
  • D06M13/10—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with non-macromolecular organic compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment with compounds containing oxygen
  • D06M13/12—Aldehydes; Ketones
  • D06M13/13—Unsaturated aldehydes, e.g. acrolein; Unsaturated ketones; Ketenes ; Diketenes
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M13/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with non-macromolecular organic compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment
  • D06M13/10—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with non-macromolecular organic compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment with compounds containing oxygen
  • D06M13/224—Esters of carboxylic acids; Esters of carbonic acid
  • D06M13/228—Cyclic esters, e.g. lactones
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04H—MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS, NON-WOVEN FABRICS; COTTON-WOOL; WADDING ; NON-WOVEN FABRICS FROM STAPLE FIBRES, FILAMENTS OR YARNS, BONDED WITH AT LEAST ONE WEB-LIKE MATERIAL DURING THEIR CONSOLIDATION
  • D04H3/00—Non-woven fabrics formed wholly or mainly of yarns or like filamentary material of substantial length
  • D04H3/015—Natural yarns or filaments
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M13/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with non-macromolecular organic compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment
  • D06M13/10—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with non-macromolecular organic compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment with compounds containing oxygen
  • D06M13/184—Carboxylic acids; Anhydrides, halides or salts thereof
  • D06M13/207—Substituted carboxylic acids, e.g. by hydroxy or keto groups; Anhydrides, halides or salts thereof
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M2101/00—Chemical constitution of the fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, to be treated
  • D06M2101/02—Natural fibres, other than mineral fibres
  • D06M2101/04—Vegetal fibres
  • D06M2101/06—Vegetal fibres cellulosic
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M2200/00—Functionality of the treatment composition and/or properties imparted to the textile material
  • D06M2200/10—Repellency against liquids
  • D06M2200/12—Hydrophobic properties
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T442/00—Fabric [woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.]
  • Y10T442/60—Nonwoven fabric [i.e., nonwoven strand or fiber material]

Definitions

• the present invention concerns cellulosic fibres with hydrophobic properties showing more softness and bulk and a process for production thereof.
• Cellulosic Man Made Fibres are known for their hydrophilic, water absorbing attributes.
• synthetic fibres such as polyester, polyethylene and polypropylene are inherently hydrophobic which means that they do not absorb water into their interior structure.
• Cellulosic fibres of the viscose type and modal type are produced according to the viscose process.
• Such fibres have been given the generic names, Viscose and Modal by BISFA (The International Bureau for the Standardisation of man made Fibres)
• amine-oxide-process or “Lyocell process” has been established as an alternative to the viscose process, wherein cellulose, without forming a derivative, is dissolved in an organic solvent of an amine-oxide, in particular N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO).
• NMMO N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide
• Cellulosic fibres produced from such solutions are called “solvent-spun” fibres and have been given the generic name Lyocell by BISFA (The International Bureau for the Standardisation of man made Fibres).
• man-made cellulose fibres can be made using chemical processes (e.g. the cuproammonium process) or using other direct solvents such as ionic liquids.
• polyester For hygiene applications, synthetic fibres such as polyester are widely used as they enhance bulk, opacity and softness in nonwoven and textile applications.
• cellulosic fibres and especially man-made cellulosic fibres continue to gain importance as they are made from a renewable raw material and are biodegradable.
• cellulosic fibres which are soft, hydrophobic, give higher bulkiness and are biodegradable.
• the object of the invention is to provide hydrophobic cellulose fibres which are biodegradable and water repellent. Said fibres are extra soft and show higher bulk in nonwoven fabrics. Said object is achieved by means of a cellulosic fibre comprising a hydrophobic surface agent and the fibre is characterised in that the softness of the fibre according to the sledge test is at least 1.3 times higher than the softness of a cellulosic man-made fibre of an untreated fibre of the same type.
• the cellulosic fibres can be natural grown like cotton, or be a man-made cellulosic fibre, such as viscose, modal or lyocell.
• the cellulosic man-made fibres can also be used as the cellulosic man-made fibres.
• a) be physically modified for example, in shape (triloba!, multilobal) or length (flock, short cut to continuous filament)
• c) be chemically modified, for example as is the case with Modal or cross linked fibres.
• untreated fibre refers to a fibre where the surface of the fibre is non-modified.
• the surface In case of a freshly spun fibre, i.e. a never-dried fibre, the surface is non-modified initially.
• Commercially available fibres usually contain a soft finish which has to be completely removed to get a non-modified surface before the hydrophobic treatment.
• fibre type means a fibre of the same nature, titer and length.
• Alkyl or Alkenyl Ketene Dimer (AKD) is used, which is shown in formula (1) , where R1 and R2 are hydrocarbon groups with between 8 and 40 carbon atoms and which can be both, saturated or unsaturated, straight- chained or branched.
• Formulations which have similar effects are substituted cyclic dicarboxylic acid anhydrides like substituted succinic or glutaric acid anhydrides and similar.
• Alkyl Ketene Dimers are prepared from acid chlorides by e.g. the method described by R. Adams, Org. Reactions Vol. Ill, p 129 John Wiley & Sons Inc. NY 1946 or J.C. Saner; Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 69, p. 2444 (1947).
• Alkyl Ketene Dimer (AKD) is well known in the paper industry to enhance the water repellence of surfaces e.g. used in food packaging.
• the use of AKD is known for sizing papers as known from GB 2 252 984 A and EP 0 228 576 B1.
• the joint use of AKD and ASA alkyl succinic acid
• W099/37859 AKD is usually used at the wet end of the paper machine.
• the hydrophobic agent can be applied during man made fibre production - this means after the fibre is already formed and washed but before drying, i.e. never-dried fibres. In this case the surface is non-modified.
• hydrophobic agents such as AKD formulations are commercially available (for example Hydrores ⁇ compounds sold by Kemira). The most common are formulations with around 5 - 25% of active compound.
• Formulation A is an acidic solution with around 10 - 12% of active material while Formulation B is an acidic emulsion with an active compound of around 20 - 22%.
• the cellulosic fibres are preferably treated with the AKD formulation in a concentration range of 0.0001 % to 10 %, preferably of 0.001% to 5 %, and most preferred of 0.001% to 3 % on cellulosic fibre.
• AKD 1 means the AKD solution used for the treatment has been prepared from Formulation A
• AKD 2 means the AKD solution used for the treatment has been prepared from Formulation B.
• Example A Viscose (sample 6)
• Example B Viscose (sample 4 and 5)
• Example D Tencel (sample 10 and 1 1 )
• Example E Cotton (sample 14 and 5)
• Table 1 shows an overview of the fibre samples according to examples A to E
• the softness of the fibre was determined by the Sledge test which is described in EN 1202 PPS.
• the key elements of this test are:
• Fibre samples are collected and carded twice using e.g. MTDA-3 Rotorring equipment. Fibres are conditioned according to EDANA instructions (ERT 60.2-99) for at least 24 hours and cut into pieces using a master plate. The material is put into the test machine and a sledge (carrying a weight of 2000g) is mounted and laid on the sample. The test is started and a measurement of the power required to drag the sledge is taken after 10 seconds.
• EDANA instructions ERT 60.2-99
• test results show that cellulosic fibres treated even with low levels of the hydrophobic agents have a softness which is around 2 to 2.5 times greater than an untreated, unfinished man made cellulosic fibre and around 1.7 to 2 times greater than the equivalent commercial man made cellulosic fibres.
• results in table 4 show that treatment with the hydrophobic agent is equally effective on bright or dull fibres, on fibres with different linear densities and on fibres with multilobal cross sections.
• the material can be processed with all state of the art nonwoven techniques, including for example, needle punching, spunlacing and air laying. Conventional textile processing routes are also possible.
• the inventive fibre can be use in different applications, especially in nonwovens, for example in wipes for biodegradable wipes with high softness and bulk or household wipes with improved static properties,
• a further object of the invention is to provide nonwoven fabrics which show lower bulk density and higher softness which are desirable in many applications.
• the treated fibres can be processed using most state of the art nonwoven techniques, e.g. Needle punch, spun lace and air laid.
• Needle punch e.g. Needle punch
• spun lace e.g., spun lace
• air laid e.g., because the chemical bonding between AKD and regenerated cellulosic fibres is so strong, treated fibres can withstand the relatively severe spunlacing process conditions.
• Nonwoven webs and fabrics according to the invention are characterised in that they contain hydrophobic cellulosic fibres according to the invention.
• the fabric can be made from hydrophobic cellulosic fibres alone or also in blends with rayon, Tencel, polyester or any other fibre used in nonwoven production.
• Needlepunched fabrics were produced on a pilot line built by Tec Tex (Italy) and made to 60 gsm (grams per square metre) or 120 gsm fabrics, needled from both sides in a range from 100 to 200 needle punches per unit and with the needle depth between 16 and 18 mm.
• Spunlaced fabrics were produced on a pilot plant at NIRI to a basis weight of 55 gsm.
• Flexural rigidity was tested according to EDANA WSP 90.5 (05) for bending length.
• a strip of fabric is fixed at one end, free at the other end and supported on a horizontal platform.
• the strip of fabric is advanced over the edge of the platform until the leading edge of the test specimen has reached a plane passing through the edge of the platform and inclined at an angle of 41.5° below the horizontal At this point, the overhanging length equals twice the bending length of the test specimen, and thus the bending length can be calculated.
• Flexural rigidity was measured according to the WSP method in four ways - MD (machine direction) and CD (cross direction), for both the front and back sides of the fabric. The values were averaged and compared to fabrics of comparable weight which were made from untreated fibres.
• Handle- O -Meter testing was carried out according to WSP 90.3.0 (05). In this test, the nonwoven to be tested is deformed through a restricted opening by a plunger and the required force is recorded. A lower required force equates to a softer, more flexible fabric. Bulk density was calculated from area weight [WSP 130.1 (05)] and thickness [WSP
• results were normalised to the relevant control for fabrics made from untreated fibres and then expressed as a percentage.
• a percentage result lower than 100 shows an improvement in that property, like lower bending length, lower flexural rigidity, lower force required in the Handle-O-Meter test or lower bulk density, and hence thicker fabrics for the same basis weight. Results can be found in tables 6,7 and 8.
• Viscose fibres 1.7dtex/40mm were treated with 0.5% AKD solution according to Example B.
• the dried fibre was processed to form fabrics with basis weights of nominally 60gsm and 120gsm .
• Tencel fibres 1.7dtex/38mm were treated with 0.5% AKD solution according to Example D.
• the dried fibre was processed in a needle punch pilot plant to form fabrics with basis weights of nominally 60gsm and 120gsm.
• Table 6 shows the softness / flexibility.results for needlepunch fabrics according examples F and G. In all cases, the use of treated fibres results in fabrics which are softer / more flexible and by between 17 and 61% compared to fabrics made from standard, untreated fibres. There is good correlation between the flexural rigidity and Handle-O-Meter tests.
• Fibres made according to sample B and D were converted on a spunlace pilot plant and processed to form fabrics with a basis weight of nominally 55gsm. Fabrics in both 100% and blends with commercially available Viscose and Tencel were made. Tables 7 and 8 show the effects on fabric softness as measured by the Handle-O-Meter. The use of treated fibre has a very significant effect on fabric softness and flexibility as measured by the Handle-O-Meter with 100% treated fibre giving over a 50% improvement in softness.
• Fabrics made from treated fibres show lower bulk densities than fabrics made from the same untreated fibres and would typically allow a 10% reduction in basis weight to give the same thickness in a needle punched fabric (table 9).
• Nonwoven fabrics according to the invention show increased softness and are characterised in that the flexural rigidity (stiffness) of the nonwoven is at least 15 % but up to 49% lower than the stiffness of a nonwoven consisting of comparable untreated fibres.
• nonwovens according to the invention show lower bulk density compared with untreated fibres under the same conditions with up to a 25% reduction in bulk density for fabrics made from 100% treated fibres.
• Spun laced fabric samples produced from standard commercial Tencel or from standard commercial viscose samples were put into 0.1% AKD 2 solution and stirred. After 5 min the samples were taken out, squeezed and put into a desiccators' cabinet at 70°C to dry. The resulting fabrics were completely water repellent and soft. Softness was measured relative to untreated fabrics using the Handle-O-Meter method described previously and the results are shown in tables 12 and 13. The softness of fabrics treated with the hydrophobic agent are around 50% of that for standard untreated spunlaced fabrics.
• Needle punched fabrics (chosen from those used to assess softness and bulk density - see tables 6 and 9) made from fibres treated with the hydrophobic agent were cut into pieces of around 3 x 4cm, weighed and then buried in soil. Samples were taken after 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months and weighed to check the level of biodegradation. All samples had completely degraded after two months. Results are given in table 14.
• Tests according to ASTM D 6400 (or DIN EN ISO 14855 or DIN EN 14046) say that a material is biogedradable if all organic compounds are decomposed in different chemical structures which are also naturally metabolites. This must happen during organic composting.
• Nonwoven consisting of Viscose and Lyocell fibres (commercially available and treated with AKD 2) are fulfilling these parameters.
• Table 14 Weight reduction of samples vs. soil burial time
• AKD 2 17,2 62,3 100,0 15,9 65,0 100,0

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)
• Nonwoven Fabrics (AREA)

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• 2012
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