JPH05295657A - Production of fiber structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide hygroscopicity, dry touch handle and excellent adhesion to a fiber structure by applying an amino acid to the fiber structure and then subjecting the fiber structure to low-temperature plasma treatment. CONSTITUTION:An amino acid such as alanine, glycine, glutamic acid or aminoacetic acid is impregnated into a fiber structure such as woven and knitted fabric, tow, string or rope, each made of a synthetic fiber such as polyester, nylon or polyacryl, a semi-synthetic fiber or a regenerated fiber such as acetate or rayon, a natural fiber such as wool, cotton or silk or their blend. Then the treated fiber structure is subjected to low temperature plasma treatment using non-polymerizable gas such as argon or helium between a discharge electrode made of glass-coated metal and an earth electrode made of a metal under conditions capable of satisfying the formula W1=18.5T1+3.5 and the formula W2=9T2+3.5 [W1 and W2: electric power (W/cm<2>) per unit area of the discharge electrode; T1 and T2: vacuum degree (Torr)].

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a fiber structure excellent in hygroscopicity, dry-touch texture and adhesiveness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the field of clothing made of synthetic fibers, especially polyester, many attempts have been proposed to impart a hygroscopic property to a comfortable feeling during wearing, which is related to the high hygroscopicity of natural fibers. For example, it is known to graft fibers of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, etc., or to use a polymer obtained by copolymerizing or blending a third component.

However, the former method has the drawbacks that the performance tends to vary and the reproducibility of the treatment is poor, and the strength of the fiber is greatly reduced and the dyeing fastness is lowered. The latter method has a drawback that the yarn formability is deteriorated and the physical properties and fastness are deteriorated.

Further, low temperature plasma has been widely studied as a method for improving the adhesiveness of the fiber surface. Such methods include forming hydroxyl groups, amino groups, and carboxyl groups on the fiber surface with non-polymerizable gas plasma, so-called chemical modification and depositing a polymer on the fiber surface by plasma polymerization, or radicals on the fiber surface by plasma treatment. And a vinyl monomer is brought into contact therewith to perform graft polymerization.

The former method has a serious drawback that the surface function changes with time due to the hydrophilic groups on the surface of the fiber penetrating inside the fiber polymer. On the other hand, the latter method by polymerization has drawbacks such as poor reproducibility of polymerization and contamination of the processing equipment. Also, a method of applying an adhesive has been conventionally used, but this method has a problem that the texture is hardened by an adhesive film.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for producing a fibrous structure having hygroscopicity and dry surface touch texture, and having adhesiveness with excellent reproducibility without rough curing or aging. It is something to do.

[0007]

The present invention has the following constitution in order to achieve such an object. That is, the method for producing a fiber structure of the present invention is characterized by applying an amino acid to the fiber structure and then performing low-temperature plasma treatment.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when an amino acid is added to a fiber structure, particularly a polyester fiber structure, and then plasma-treated under a specific condition, the amino acid undergoes cross-linking polymerization and firmly adheres to the fiber surface, thereby absorbing moisture. It has been clarified that the properties, texture and even adhesiveness are improved.

The present invention will be described in detail below.

In the fiber structure of the present invention, synthetic fibers and semi-synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, acryl, acetate and rayon, natural fibers such as wool, cotton and silk, and mixed fibers thereof are used. As the fibers, both long fibers and short fibers can be used, and knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics, tows, strings, ropes and the like can be used.

The amino acid of the present invention has an acidic group and a basic group in the molecule, and includes, for example, alanine, glycine,
L-glutamic acid, ε-amino acid, etc., for example, revised 2nd edition, Chemical Handbook Basic Edition I
The materials exemplified on pages 326 to 329 can be used.

As a method of applying the amino acid to the fiber structure, a method of using an aqueous solution of the amino acid, treating it by a padding method, a dipping method, a spray method or the like and then drying it can be used.

The present invention, after adding such an amino acid,
By carrying out the low temperature plasma treatment within a specific condition range, the above-mentioned desired effects can be achieved.

The low-temperature plasma of the present invention is generated by applying a high voltage between the electrodes in a decompression container filled with a specific gas, and such discharge is spark discharge,
Although there are various forms such as corona discharge and glow discharge, glow discharge, which has a uniform discharge and an excellent activation effect, is particularly preferable.

The power supply for applying a high voltage of the present invention is an alternating current,
Either direct current can be used. Among alternating currents, a frequency of 10 to 10,000 KHz is particularly preferable in terms of sustainability and uniformity of discharge.

As the non-polymerizable gas in the low temperature plasma treatment of the present invention, for example, argon, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, air, hydrogen, water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
Ammonia, methane tetrafluoride, etc., and mixtures thereof can be used.

The low temperature plasma treatment of the present invention is preferably performed within a specific range of the combination of discharge power and vacuum degree.

That is, the relational expression between the discharge power and the degree of vacuum is as follows: W ₁ = 18.5T ₁ +3.5 and W ₂ = 9T ₂ +3.5 [where W ₁ and W ₂ are the unit area of the discharge electrode] The power per unit (W / cm ² ), T ₁ , and T ₂ are the degree of vacuum (Torr). ] The electric power and the vacuum degree surrounded by the two equations are combined and processed. Conditions outside this range are difficult to achieve the effects of the present invention. The discharge power of the present invention is preferably 4 to 21 W /
cm ^2, and to take a long time to 4W / cm ² less than the process, and the discharge becomes unstable exceeds 21W / cm ^2,
Processing irregularities may occur, which is not preferable.

The vacuum degree of the low temperature plasma treatment of the present invention is preferably 0.01 to 0.5 Torr. When it is lower than 0.01 Torr, the average free process distance of the active species is small and the probability of reaching the object to be treated is high. However, there is a tendency that the absolute amount of active species generated will decrease and the processing time will increase accordingly,
If it exceeds 0.5 Torr, the active species may be blocked by the gas molecules that have not been ionized, and the treatment time may be long, or more discharge power may be required, which is not preferable. The present invention can achieve the object of the present invention by treating in the presence of a non-polymerizable gas in a plasma atmosphere generated by combining such a degree of vacuum and discharge power.

In the apparatus for carrying out the process of the present invention, a discharge electrode is a metal tube made of copper, iron, stainless steel, aluminum or the like covered with glass, and a ground electrode is made of metal such as stainless steel or aluminum. It is better to use a different plate or drum. By combining such electrodes, uniform discharge can be formed, and the effect of the present invention can be efficiently achieved. The electrode of the present invention is cooled by circulating water or the like as necessary.

By the plasma treatment of the present invention, amino acids are polymerized to form a water-insoluble polymer and firmly adhere to the fiber surface, so that any function of moisture absorption, texture and adhesion can be improved.

[0022]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 Plain woven fabrics made of polyester temporary twisted yarn (manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) of 75 denier 36 filaments for warp and 100 denier 48 filaments for weft are scoured by a conventional method, Heat set. The results of evaluating the performance of the woven fabric treated under the following conditions are shown in Table 1.

(Amino acid processing) A: After dipping in 150 g / l of aminoacetic acid aqueous solution, squeeze with a mangle so that the wet pickup becomes 90% 1
It was dried at 00 ° C. B: DL-α-alanine was treated as in A. C: ε-aminocaproic acid was treated as in A. (Plasma treatment) Treatment device: Internal electrode type Discharge electrode is an aluminum tube with an outer diameter of 8 mm covered with a glass tube with an outer diameter of 12 mm. The ground electrode is a stainless steel drum with an outer diameter of 300 mm. Discharge frequency: 500 KHz Discharge power: 2-30 KW / cm ² Gas and flow rate: Argon 100 cc / min Vacuum degree: 0.05 to 1.0 Torr Drum rotation speed: 10 cm / min The polymerization efficiency in the table is 100% of the weight of the amino acid after adhesion and drying. After the plasma treatment, the weight ratio of the insoluble component after washing with water at 90 ° C. for 20 minutes and drying was determined. As for the moisture absorption rate, the weight after the sample was dried at 100 ° C. for 4 hours was set to 100, and the ratio of the increased weight was calculated from the weight after the sample was treated at 20 ° C. and 65% RH for 48 hours.

Comparative Examples 1, 2 and 3 are prepared by adhering amino acids and then washed with water at 90 ° C. for 20 minutes without plasma treatment. Comparative Example 4 is a base cloth which is not subjected to amino acid treatment or plasma treatment. is there.

[0026]

[Table 1] From Table 1, those of Examples 1 to 11 are those in which amino acids are polymerized to be insoluble in water and have 3 to 4 times the hygroscopicity with respect to the woven fabric, and the texture of the woven fabric is excellent in a smooth touch. Met. In addition, Example 7 was partially yellowed and slightly inferior in terms of uniform treatment.

Example 12, Comparative Examples 5 to 6 A plain weave fabric using nylon 6 of 70 denier 24 filaments (manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) as warp and weft was scoured and heat set by a conventional method.

Example 12: Epsilon aminocaproic acid 200 g /
l Immersed in an aqueous solution, squeezed with a mangle so that the wet pickup would be 70%, and dried at 110 ° C. Then, the same plasma treatment machine as in Example 1 was used to perform plasma treatment under the following conditions to perform coating.

(Plasma treatment) Gas, flow rate: air 100 cc / min Vacuum degree: 0.4 Torr Discharge power: 16 W / cm ² Treatment speed: 10 cm / min (Coating) Polyester polyurethane resin (Crisbon 8006-HV Sanyo Kasei Co., Ltd.) Product) dimethylformamide solution with a knife coater coating amount 25 / m
² coating, coagulation by wet method and coating processing. The film peeling strength of the coated cloth was 840 g / m after being coated 12 hours after the plasma treatment.
The value was cm, and the coating after 120 hours from the plasma treatment was 850 g / cm, which did not change with time after the plasma treatment.

Comparative Example 5 was treated in the same manner as Example 12 except that the amino acid treatment was not performed. 1 after plasma treatment
The film peeling strengths of the coatings after 2 hours and 120 hours were 720 g / cm and 610 g / cm, respectively, and changes with time after the plasma treatment were observed.

In Comparative Example 6, the film peeling strength of the coating processed in the same manner as in Example 12 without amino acid treatment and plasma treatment was 510 g / cm.

From the above, Comparative Example 5 was used in Example 12.
It can be seen that it has excellent adhesiveness with no change over time as compared with the above.

[0033]

Industrial Applicability According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a fibrous structure having a high adhesiveness which does not change with time, a hygroscopic property, and a dry-touch texture.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing a fiber structure, which comprises applying an amino acid to the fiber structure and then performing a low temperature plasma treatment. 2. The low-temperature plasma treatment is a non-polymerizable gas plasma, and the treatment is performed with a combination of discharge power and vacuum within a range surrounded by the following formulas (1) and (2). A method for manufacturing a fiber structure. W ₁ = 18.5 T ₁ +3.5 ··· (1) W ₂ = 9T ₂ +3.5 ··· (2) Here, W ₁ and W ₂ are electric power per unit area of the discharge electrode ( W / cm ² ), T ₁ and T ₂ represent the degree of vacuum (Torr). 3. The low temperature plasma treatment has a discharge power of 4 to 21.
The method for producing a fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein W / cm ² and the degree of vacuum are 0.01 to 0.5 Torr. 4. The method for producing a fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein in the low temperature plasma treatment, the discharge electrode is a metal coated with glass and the ground electrode is made of metal.