JPH0369665A - Production of antimicrobial fiber structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the subject structure, excellent in washing durability, having a high-level of antimicrobial performance and useful as underwear, etc., by using conjugate fiber, composed of a polyester containing an antimicrobial agent and polymer excellent in fiber-forming properties. CONSTITUTION:The objective structure obtained by forming a fiber structure from conjugate fiber constructed of (A) a component, composed of a polyester containing an antimicrobial agent and exposing part thereof to the fiber surface and (B) a polymer excellent in fiber-forming properties, then treating the aforementioned fiber structure with an aqueous solution of an alkali compound (e.g. sodium hydroxide), partially dissolving and removing part of the component (A). Furthermore, if, e.g. polyethylene terephthalate is used as the component (B), polyethylene terephthalate copolymers containing metal sulfonate groups are preferably used as the component (A).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for producing an antibacterial fiber structure having excellent washing durability and high antibacterial performance.

(Conventional technology) Clothing that comes into direct contact with the human body, such as socks, underwear, and comforters,
When sweat adheres to fabrics and given appropriate temperature and humidity, microorganisms such as bacteria multiply, causing problems such as foul odors, discoloration, and brittleness of fabrics.

In response to this current situation, a method of impregnating fiber fabric with an antibacterial agent such as an organosilicon quaternary ammonium salt or an aromatic halogen compound has been proposed as a method of imparting antibacterial properties. However, in the antibacterial fiber fabric obtained by this method, the antibacterial agent generally used has an average molecular weight of 1.0.
Since the antibacterial agent has a low molecular weight of 0.00 or less, the antibacterial agent is eluted by washing, the antibacterial effect is not sustainable, and the durability is poor.

In order to improve this drawback, a method has been proposed in which a high molecular weight antibacterial agent or an antibacterial agent in which antibacterial metal ions are physically adsorbed to an adsorbent substance such as activated carbon is mixed during fiber production. In this case, there is little antibacterial agent exposed on the fiber surface, so it is currently not possible to exhibit a high degree of antibacterial effect.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention was made in view of the current situation, and aims to obtain an antibacterial fiber structure having high antibacterial properties and excellent washing durability. It is.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention achieves the above object and has the following configuration.

That is, the present invention provides an A component made of polyester containing an antibacterial agent, a part of which is exposed on the fiber surface;
A fiber structure is formed using a composite fiber composed of a component B consisting of a polymer having good fiber-forming properties, and a component A is formed by treating the fiber structure with an aqueous solution of an alkaline compound. The gist of this invention is a method for producing an antibacterial fiber structure, which is characterized by dissolving and removing.

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

The composite fiber used in the present invention is composed of component A, which is made of polyester containing an antibacterial agent and a part of which is exposed on the fiber surface, and component B, which is made of a polymer with good fiber forming properties. It is a composite fiber.

The polyesters mentioned here include polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, poly-1,4
Examples include -cyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate, polyethylene-2,6-naphthalate, and polyester copolymers based on these, such as polymers copolymerized with metal salts of sulfoisophthalic acid, sebacic acid, and the like.

As antibacterial agents, silicon quaternary ammonium salt, 2-
Organic compounds such as (4-thiazolyl)-benzimidazole, pyrithione compounds, 10,10'-oxybisphenoxyarsine, and AA.

○s / M g O / Z n O / Ti ○ Inorganic compounds represented by 2-based composite ceramics, activated carbon that adsorbs metal ions with antibacterial properties, ion exchange resins that coordinate metal ions, etc. Can be mentioned.
Among the above-mentioned antibacterial agents, since liquid antibacterial agents have poor washing durability, it is preferable to microencapsulate them with cyclodextrin or the like before mixing them with polyester.

The particle size of the antibacterial agent is preferably small enough to not interfere with the production of the composite fiber of the present invention, and the particle size is preferably 5 μm or less, preferably 2 μm or less.

The amount of antibacterial agent to be mixed into the polyester is determined by considering the weight ratio of component A in the composite fiber, spinnability, etc.
It is preferably in the range of ~50% by weight.

The polyester and the antibacterial agent may be mixed by a known method using a melt blender or the like.

Examples of polymers with good fiber-forming properties used as component B in the present invention include thermoplastic polymers such as polyolefins, polyamides, polyesters, and polyacrylonitrile. When polyester is used as component B, it is necessary to preferentially dissolve and remove a portion of the polyester of component A by alkali treatment, and the rate of hydrolysis of component A by alkali is faster than component B. It is necessary to use polymers. For example, when polyethylene terephthalate is used for the BtL component, a polyethylene terephthalate copolymer containing a sulfonic acid metal base may be used as the A component.

In addition, other additives such as matting agents, flame retardants, oxidation stabilizers, ultraviolet stabilizers, etc. may be included in the above-mentioned AJi 12 minutes and B component as necessary.

The composite fiber consisting of component A and component B used in the present invention is
At least a portion of component A must be exposed on the fiber surface. To explain this with drawings, Figs. 1 to 4 are cross-sectional views of specific examples of composite fibers used in the present invention, and in the figures, ■, 3.5.7 contain antibacterial agents. 2.4.6.8 represents component A consisting of a polyester with a high fiber-forming property, and component B consisting of a polymer with good fiber forming properties. In all cases, at least a portion of component A is exposed on the fiber surface.

Figure 1 shows a core-sheath type conjugate fiber with the A component of 1 as the sheath component and the B component of 2 as the core component. 3 and 4 show a composite fiber having a shape in which component B fills the space between components A and A that are arranged at rotationally symmetrical positions.

These composite fibers are manufactured by a known melt composite spinning method and can be crimped in the same manner as regular fibers, and can be used alone or mixed with regular fibers depending on the purpose. It is used to process fiber structures such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and non-woven fabrics.

The antibacterial fiber structure of the present invention is obtained by treating the above-described fiber structure with an aqueous solution of an alkaline compound to dissolve and remove a portion of component A.

The alkaline compounds used here include sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate,
Examples include sodium methylate, among which sodium hydroxide is particularly preferably used.

The amount of the alkali compound to be used varies depending on the type of alkali compound, the type of polyester, and the processing conditions, but it is usually preferably used in the range of 0.01 to 40 g/Il.

As for the processing conditions, it is usually preferable that the temperature is in the range of room temperature to 100°C and the processing time is in the range of 1 minute to 4 hours.

It is desirable that the amount of component A dissolved and removed by the alkali treatment is in the range of 3 to 50% by weight, preferably in the range of 5 to 30% by weight, based on the weight of component A.

When the amount of component A dissolved and removed is 5% by weight without swirling, the amount of antibacterial agent exposed to the fiber surface is small and a high antibacterial effect cannot be exhibited. If it exceeds 50% by weight, the antibacterial agent will be removed as the polyester is dissolved and removed, making it impossible to exhibit a high antibacterial effect, and the strength of the yarn will drop significantly.

In the present invention, in order to further improve the antibacterial effect, an antibacterial agent such as a silicon quaternary ammonium salt or an aromatic halogen compound may be fixed to the fiber surface by a known method such as a padding method, a spray method, or a coating method. .

The present invention has the above configuration, and according to the method of the present invention, an antibacterial fiber structure having excellent washing durability can be obtained.

(Function) Since the antibacterial fiber structure of the present invention is formed from a composite fiber containing an antibacterial agent inside the fiber, the antibacterial effect has good washing durability. By dissolving and removing part of the polyester containing the antibacterial agent, the specific surface area of the polyester is increased, and the amount of antibacterial agent exposed on the fiber surface is increased, so the antibacterial effect is also very good.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples, and the antibacterial performance in the Examples was measured by the following method.

(1) Antibacterial Shake Flask Method (Bacterial Number Reduction Rate Test) Test Bacterial Strain> Staphylococcus Aureus PD
A209P) <Test method> Suspension buffer of test bacteria was added to each of the sterilized fiber structures without the addition of antibacterial agents and the fiber structures with addition of antibacterial agents, and the test bacteria were incubated at 150 times/min in a closed container. After shaking for a period of time, the number of viable bacteria was measured, and the rate of decrease in the number of bacteria in the suspension injected into the fiber structure with antibacterial agent compared to the number of bacteria in the suspension injected into the fiber structure without antibacterial agent ( %) was calculated.

Example 1 30 parts by weight of Neosinthol AP-60 (antibacterial agent specially manufactured by Shinto Paint) powder with an average particle size of 1.5 μm and phenol/
Concentration of tetrachloroethane (1/1) in solvent: 0.5g
/ Relative viscosity ηr measured at 25 °C at 100 mj2
ej! The sheath is component A obtained by melt-mixing 70 parts by weight of a polyethylene terephthalate copolymer containing 2.5 mol% of 5-sodium sulfoisophthalate of 1.30, and contains 0.6% by weight of titanium oxide particles as a matting agent. Relative viscosity ηr
eji! The discharge ratio (A component/B component) is 50, with the B component consisting of polyethylene terephthalate of 1.38 as the core.
150, melt-spun at a spinning temperature of 260°C and a spinning speed of 3000 m/min, and stretched at a stretching temperature of 120°C, a stretching ratio of 2.5 times, and a heat treatment temperature of 160°C to obtain a core-sheath type having the cross section shown in Figure 1. Filament yarn 75d made of composite fiber
/36f was obtained.

Using the obtained filament yarns as the warp and weft, a plain woven fabric (taffeta) with a warp density of 115 threads/inch and a weft density of 90 threads/inch was woven. This gray fabric was refined in a conventional manner, preset, and then hydroxylated in a 4% IJum aqueous solution to obtain a fabric with a weight loss rate of 10%.

Thereafter, the antibacterial fiber fabric of the present invention (referred to as Invention A) was obtained by dyeing by a conventional method.

For comparison with the present invention, hydroxylation was performed in this example)
A comparative antibacterial fiber fabric was obtained by the same method as in this example except that the treatment with the 4% IJum aqueous solution was omitted.

The antibacterial performance of the antibacterial fiber fabrics of the present invention and comparative antibacterial fabrics obtained as described above was measured, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 *As is clear from Table 1, which is washed 20 times according to the JIS L-0217103 method, the antibacterial fiber fabric of the present invention has excellent antibacterial performance, and the antibacterial performance also has excellent washing durability. I know that there is.

Example 2 Functional composite ceramic MA-2 with an average particle size of 1 μm (
Antibacterial agent manufactured by Hagiwara Kogyo ■) 40 parts by weight and relative viscosity ηre
j! Component A, which is a melt-mixed mixture of 80 parts by weight of polyethylene terephthalate with a polyethylene terephthalate of 1.38% and a BJilIE component made of nylon 6 with a relative viscosity ηrej 72.6 containing 0.5% by weight of titanium oxide particles as a matting agent, is shown in FIG. Discharge ratio (component A/component B) 50150, spinning temperature 270°C,
Melt spinning was carried out at a spinning speed of 1500 m/min, and the drawing temperature was 85 m/min.
The filament yarn was drawn at a temperature of 165° C., a draw ratio of 2.6 times, and a heat treatment temperature of 165° C. to obtain 70 d/12 f filament yarns made of composite fibers having the cross section shown in FIG.

Using the obtained filament system for the warp and weft, a plain woven fabric (tuck) with a warp density of 120 threads/inch and a weft density of 90 threads/inch was woven. After scouring and presetting this gray fabric in a conventional manner, it was boiled in a 2% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution to obtain a fabric with a weight loss rate of 7%.

Thereafter, the antibacterial fiber fabric of the present invention (referred to as Invention B) was obtained by dyeing by a conventional method.

Next, the antibacterial fiber fabric of the present invention was subjected to sanitization 19.
77 (Antibacterial agent manufactured by Nippon Sanitize ■) Padded with a 3% aqueous solution (squeezing ratio 35%) and heated at 150℃ with a tenter.
A heat treatment was performed for 1 minute to obtain an antibacterial fiber fabric of the present invention (referred to as Invention C).

The antibacterial properties of the antibacterial fiber fabric of the present invention obtained as described above were measured, and the results are also shown in Table 2.

Table 2* As is clear from Table 2, which is repeatedly washed 20 times according to the JIS L-0217103 method, the antibacterial #a fiber fabric of the present invention has excellent antibacterial performance, and the washing durability of the antibacterial performance is also high. It turns out that it is excellent. In particular, it can be seen that when the antibacterial fiber fabric is further padded with an antibacterial agent as in Invention C, not only a higher antibacterial effect is exhibited, but also the washing durability thereof is further improved.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to produce an antibacterial fiber structure having excellent washing durability and high antibacterial performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 are cross-sectional views showing an example of the antibacterial composite fiber used in the present invention. 1.3.5.7 in the figure is A! made of polyester containing an antibacterial agent. 2.4.6.8 indicates the BtL content consisting of polymers with good fiber-forming properties.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Using a composite fiber composed of component A, which is made of polyester containing an antibacterial agent, a part of which is exposed on the fiber surface, and component B, which is made of a polymer with good fiber forming properties. A method for producing an antibacterial fibrous structure, which comprises forming a fibrous structure and then treating the fibrous structure with an aqueous solution of an alkaline compound to dissolve and remove a portion of component A.