JP2809486B2 - Improving the feel of cellulose fibers - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for treating cellulose fibers with an aqueous solution of an organic acid salt or an inorganic salt to improve the feeling of the cellulose fibers in a silky manner.

[Conventional technology]

Hitherto, various methods have been proposed for improving the feel of cellulose fibers by performing some processing. That is, softeners such as fatty acid derivatives, silicon resin, polyethylene,
There are a method of applying polyurethane and various vinyl resins to fibers, a method of grafting a vinyl monomer to cellulose fibers, a chemical method such as a mercerizing method of cotton, and a physical method such as decatizing and calendering. In particular, as a method for improving the silky feeling, there is a method of treating with a cellulolytic enzyme cellulase disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-54082.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Textile products treated with the above-described method of applying a softening agent or various resins to a cellulose fiber or a physical method vary to a greater or lesser degree, and the feel thereof varies due to washing. Also, the mercerizing of cotton is a method of reforming cotton like silk, as it is called mercerizing, but its effect mainly appears remarkably on the glossy side, and because cotton is short fiber Its feeling is far different from silk of long fiber. The method of improving cellulose fibers to a silky feel by treating the cellulose fibers with a cellulase-degrading enzyme cellulase has a drawback of causing a reduction in fiber strength at present, and in particular, a reduction in bending wear strength of the fiber woven fabric. In the case of a fabric using regenerated cellulose fibers by the viscose method, the value may be reduced to 10% or less of the untreated fabric.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for imparting a wash-resistant silky feel while minimizing a decrease in the strength of cellulose fibers.

[Means for solving the problem]

A feature of the method for improving the feeling of cellulose fibers of the present invention is that the cellulose fibers are treated in a salt aqueous solution of an organic acid or an inorganic acid having a pH of 4 to 10 and a carbon number of 5 or less at a concentration of 20 g / or more. It is in.

The salts of organic or inorganic acids mentioned here are acetic acid, formic acid,
Refers to sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and ammonium salts of organic acids having 5 or less carbon atoms such as succinic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid and citric acid and inorganic acids such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid and hydrochloric acid.

The cellulose fiber in the present invention may be any of natural cellulose fibers such as cotton and hemp and regenerated cellulose fibers. The form of the cellulose fiber at the time of treatment may be any form such as a thread, a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, and a nonwoven fabric. It should be noted that a mixture of the above cellulose fibers and other fibers, such as mixed spinning, twisting, weaving, and knitting, is of course included.

The concentration of the above salts used in the method of the present invention is effective at 20 g / or more, and when it is less than 20 g /, the effect of improving the feeling is small. A preferred salt concentration range is 20-500 g /, more preferably 50-300 g /.

Conventionally, as an example of applying a neutral inorganic salt to cellulose fibers, when dyeing a reactive dye, a reaction catalyst such as trisodium phosphate, sodium carbonate, a weak alkali such as sodium hydrogen carbonate, and a reactive dye Add sodium sulfate, sodium chloride to 20-200 g / dye bath and p
A method of adjusting H to 10.5 or more and heating to 30 to 100 ° C. is known. However, in this case, the fibers become coarse and hard due to the action of the alkali, and the softening of the hand by the inorganic salt does not occur.

Therefore, in the method of the present invention,
Coordination is important. Of the salts of organic acids and inorganic acids used in the present invention, salts of strong acids and strong bases and salts of weak acids and weak bases are neutral in aqueous solutions, so that it is not particularly necessary to adjust the pH. However, when salts of a strong acid and a weak base or salts of a weak acid and a strong base are used, pH adjustment may be required. As the pH adjuster to be used, acetic acid is preferable when the solution is alkaline, and ammonia water or sodium acetate is preferable when the solution is acidic. In addition, the method of the present invention is dyed with a reactive dye solution containing a neutral inorganic salt and the above weak alkali, and even when applied to a slightly coarse cellulose fiber, the feeling is made soft like silk. be able to. Therefore,
When the method of the present invention is applied to cellulose fibers, there is no difference in the effect before and after dyeing.

The temperature of the salt-containing treatment liquid is not particularly limited, but the lower the treatment temperature, the slower the softening of the hand. Therefore, to complete the treatment in a short time, 20 to 100 ° C. is preferable. However, processing can be performed at room temperature or lower. In particular, when a dyed product dyed with a direct dye having a low wet fastness is treated, it is advantageous to treat it at around room temperature in order to prevent discoloration. Also, when using ammonium salts such as ammonium chloride and ammonium sulfate, ammonia evaporates by heating,
Since the pH of the solution may shift to the acidic side, it is desirable to treat at a temperature of 50 ° C. or lower.

 Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

Example 1 Each of sodium sulfate, calcium chloride, ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate, and potassium acetate was 100 g /
Was prepared. Each of these solutions had a pH in the range of 4 to 10, except for an aqueous potassium acetate solution. Acetic acid was added to the aqueous potassium acetate solution to adjust the pH to 7. A plain woven fabric of 100% cupra (warp 50d / weft 75d) was immersed in each of these solutions and treated at 20 ° C for 1 hour. Then, it was washed with water and dried.

Table 1 shows various properties of the untreated fabric and the treated fabric (all in the vertical direction of the fabric).

 In addition, each measuring method is described below.

(1) Tensile strength: Based on 5.12 tensile strength and elongation of JIS L 1003-1196 “Test method for rayon fabric”.

(2) Tear strength: It is based on 5.14 tear strength C method (Pendulum method) of JIS L 1003-11961 “Test method for rayon fabric”.

(3) Flexural wear strength: 5.17 abrasion strength A method (universal method) of JIS L 1003-1196 “Testing method for rayon fabric” (b) Complies with flexural wear.

(4) Bending resistance: In accordance with 5.18 Bending degree A method (45 ゜ cantilever method) of JIS L 1003-1196 “Test method for rayon fabric”.

As can be seen from Table 1, the method of the present invention hardly decreases the strength and can reduce the softness. With the exception of untreated fabrics, the texture was close to silk.

Example 2 A 120 g / water solution of each of potassium acetate, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate and calcium chloride was prepared. The pH of these solutions was in the range of 4 to 10 except for the aqueous potassium acetate solution. Acetic acid was added to the aqueous potassium acetate solution to adjust the pH to 7.0. A plain woven fabric of 100% viscose rayon (warp 75d / weft 120
d) was immersed, treated at 40 ° C. for 30 minutes, then washed with water and dried.

Table 2 shows various properties of the untreated fabric and the treated fabric (all in the vertical direction of the fabric).

As can be seen from Table 2, the method of the present invention hardly decreases the strength and can reduce the softness. Except for the untreated fabric, the texture was close to silk.

[Action and effect of the invention]

When the method of the present invention is employed, the feeling can be modified to be silk-like while minimizing the decrease in the strength of the cellulose fiber. In addition, the feeling is excellent in washing resistance and hardly changes even after 100 washings.

The effect of salts on cellulose fibers in the method of the present invention has not been completely elucidated at present, but the crystallinity of cupra fibers treated by the method of the present invention is determined by X-ray diffraction. Is declining. Also, according to the measurement of dynamic viscoelasticity, the maximum value of the mechanical loss tangent tan δ is larger than the sample before treatment, and the temperature indicating the maximum value of tan δ is also slightly lowered, so it is probably
It is thought that the salts permeate into the cellulose fibers by the treatment of the present invention to reduce the crystal domains and relax the structure of the amorphous domains.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1) Cellulose fibers are selected from calcium salts, magnesium salts, ammonium salts, sodium salts, potassium salts of organic acids having 5 or less carbon atoms and calcium salts, magnesium salts, ammonium salts, sodium salts and potassium salts of inorganic acids. Contains at least 20 g / salt selected from
A method for improving the feeling of cellulose fibers, wherein the treatment is performed in an aqueous solution having a pH of 4 to 10.