JPH093779A - Softening treatment of cotton-containing woven or knit fabric - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve various physical properties of a cotton-containing woven or knit fabric such as handling, surface feeling and water-absorptivity and to extend the application range of the fabric. CONSTITUTION: A cotton-containing woven or knit fabric is treated with a cotton-swelling agent, reduced its weight with a modified cellulase to preferentially hydrolyze the primary wall of mainly cotton fiber, treated again with a cotton-swelling agent treatment and subjected to physical treatment or physicochemical treatment to fibrillate the cotton fiber. The cotton-swelling agent treatment is a chemical treatment using caustic soda, liquid ammonia or a lower amine singly or in combination. The physical or physicochemical treatment is a liquid flow washer treatment, air washer treatment, freezing treatment or drying in expanded state or their combination. The cotton-containing woven or knit fabric is produced by using a 100% cotton yarn or a conjugate yarn of cotton and a synthetic fiber such as polyester, polyamide or polyacrylonitrile singly or in combination.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is intended to improve various physical properties of cotton-containing woven and knitted fabrics such as texture, surface feel and water absorption, and to expand the range of its use.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cotton fibers are made up of a network of tubular structures near the surface, called the primary wall, and an internal structure of lamellae, a multi-layered structure consisting of a helical array of fibrils, called the secondary wall. There is.

In the field of processing cotton-containing woven and knitted fabrics, the primary wall and the secondary wall of the cotton fiber have been treated as an integral structure without distinction in order to improve the physical properties thereof. .

One of them is enzyme-reducing processing using cellulase (Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-43236).

According to this method, the cotton-containing woven or knitted fabric is reduced in weight and has a soft texture, but it has been pointed out that the strength of the woven and knitted fabric is reduced and the reproducibility is insufficient because the action of the enzyme is not average.

Pretreatment with a swelling agent such as sodium hydroxide (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 58-54082), pretreatment with an agent such as liquid ammonia or lower alkylamine that reduces the volume of micropores present in the microstructure of cellulosic fibers. The improvement method such as the method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-158550) has been proposed, but all of them are improvements in which the cotton fiber is regarded as an integral structure.

Separately from the above, a method of carrying out cellulase enzyme treatment and then transferring the corresponding cellulosic fiber by compressed air and continuously striking the wire mesh for crushing (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-281).
063), a physical improvement such as a method for reducing the amount of cellulase enzyme by an airflow dyeing machine (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-214664) has been proposed, but these are also regarded as an integrated structure of cotton fiber in the same manner as described above. Is an improvement. For this reason, there is a limit in improving physical properties such as feeling and surface feel.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the enzyme weight loss processing,
It is an object of the present invention to develop a processing method in which a cotton-containing woven or knitted fabric is provided with a very soft texture by finely dividing the cotton fiber in the fiber axis direction without cutting the fiber length to shorten the fiber length.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a cotton woven or knitted fabric is first swollen with a cotton fiber swelling agent to make the surface smooth, and then the modified cellulase enzyme containing a water-soluble polymer is used to reduce the amount of the surface.
Remove the next wall on average.

Subsequently, liquid ammonia, caustic or a combination thereof is treated with a swelling agent.

Next, the cotton fiber is divided in the axial direction of the fiber by utilizing the impact force of the air, the liquid flow or a washer combining them, the expansion force due to the phase change of water, the contraction force when the cotton fiber is dried and the like. It is a process of fibrillation.

By fibrillating cotton without cutting it, it was possible to obtain a fresh texture and surface feel that have not been obtained in the past, while minimizing the decrease in strength.

Although it has been proposed that the treatment with liquid ammonium, caustic or a combination thereof be performed as a pretreatment for reducing the amount of enzyme, the proposal after reducing the amount of enzyme is a completely new idea that has never been seen so far.

Further, an example using a modified cellulase enzyme as an enzyme in this case has not been proposed yet. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

The cotton fibers used in the present invention are not limited to so-called countries of origin such as American cotton and Egyptian cotton, but refer to cotton fibers defined by botany. The cotton-containing woven or knitted fabric means a woven fabric containing the above-mentioned cotton fibers, which is 100% cotton or is mixed with other fibers.

Other fibers mixed in each stage of yarn, woven fabric and knit include all natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic fibers other than cotton.

The cotton woven knitted fabric uses an enzyme or oxidizer type desizing agent, an alkaline type refining agent such as sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, or a peroxide type or chlorine type bleaching agent which is usually used for processing cotton. Perform the exposed bottom.

After the lower bleaching, a pretreatment is carried out with the above-mentioned swelling agent treatment (including a chemical agent for reducing micropores) in order to reduce the reduction in strength by enzyme treatment and improve reproducibility. The swelling agent treatment includes mercerization processing, liquid solution processing, processing with lower amines such as methylamine and ethylamine.

The mercerizing process is a cotton woven knitted fabric with caustic soda having a concentration of 10 to 30% (preferably 15 to 20%), a temperature of -10 to 90 ° C (preferably 10 to 25 ° C), and a time of 1
It is a series of processing in which the substrate is subjected to a dipping treatment for 5 seconds to 5 minutes (desirably 1 to 3 minutes) and then washed.

The liquid-annealing process means that a cotton woven or knitted fabric is dipped in liquid ammonia for 1 to 60 seconds (desirably 3 to 10 seconds), and then ammonia is added within 5 to 90 seconds (desirably 5 to 20 seconds). It is a process to remove.

Next, an enzyme weight reduction process using a modified cellulase enzyme is performed. The method for treating a cotton knitted fabric with this enzyme is basically the same as the conventional type of cellulase enzyme weight loss processing method.

The enzyme concentration, pH, temperature, and time need to be changed according to the specifications of the cotton woven or knit fabric, but usually the enzyme concentration is 0.1.
-5.0%, PH 3.5-6.0, temperature 30-70 degreeC time 30-180 minutes.

Among the dipping type processing machines, the liquid flow method is preferable, and the bath ratio (workpiece: bath solution) is 1: 5 to 1: 1.
00 is normal. After the cellulase treatment, the usual inactivation treatment is carried out, followed by drying.

The modified cellulase enzyme is of a type that preferentially acts on the surface of the cellulose fiber on average and causes mainly the primary wall of the cotton fiber to undergo a hydrolysis reaction preferentially.

Specifically, it is a hybrid cellulase enzyme containing a water-soluble polymer, which is a giant polymer having a high affinity for cellulosic fibers and a molecular weight of several hundred thousand. Liquid cellulase obtained by submerged culture can also be used.

By treatment with this modified cellulase enzyme, the primary wall of the cotton fiber is stripped on average. That is, when a conventional cellulase enzyme is used, a part of the surface of the cellulose fiber is strongly hydrolyzed, and not only the primary wall but also the secondary wall is destroyed and the cotton fiber is often cut.

On the other hand, when the modified cellulase enzyme was used, the surface of the cellulose fiber was smooth like peeled skin, and the fibrils of the secondary wall were aggregated.
It is a state where a groove or a crack is partially included.

Also, the number of cut cotton fibers is small. Therefore, the reduction in the strength of the woven or knitted fabric is small.

After reducing the amount of the enzyme, swelling treatment of liquid fiber, caustic or a combination of each of them is performed.

The swelling agent acts on the cellulosic fibers in which the primary wall has been stripped on average and partially grooved or cracked,
It is estimated that the groove or crack becomes deeper.

The swelling-treated cotton woven or knitted fabric is subjected to a physical impact by an air and liquid washer.

It is necessary to change the time, temperature, and circulation speed according to the specifications of the cotton woven or knit fabric, but usually 30 to 600 minutes,
Temperature 20 to 130 ° C, circulation speed 30 to 1000 m / mi
n.

It should be noted that instead of physical impact, it is immersed in water and then frozen or stored in a freezer for 2 to 5 hours or in a cooling tank (0 ° C or lower)
It is also effective to pass through the solution for 2 to 5 minutes for freezing, and to use the expansion force associated with the phase change of water and the physicochemical force such as the contraction force of the cellulose fiber when it is dried.

When subjected to physical and physicochemical rubbing, friction and impact, the cotton fibers are broken in the fiber axis direction and fibrillated. That is, since the primary wall of the cotton fiber is on average or disappears, the lamella or fibrils constituting the secondary wall are separated by the physical or physicochemical force, and the cotton is removed. The fibers are considered to fibrillate.

Although a method of dyeing after forming ultrafine fibers is described in Examples, dyeing can be carried out before or after each treatment of weight loss, swelling and impact.

For dyeing, any method such as continuous dyeing, cold batch and jet dyeing may be used.

After dyeing, a finishing treatment is carried out using a softening agent, a resin agent or the like depending on the performance required for the final product. Then spread and dry (for example, fix the width with a pin and
Dry in 2 to 5 minutes).

[0038]

Embodiment 1 A plain weave fabric having a warp density and a weft density of 100 yarns / in was prepared by using 60 count yarn of 100% cotton for both the warp and weft.

2. The relevant fabric was bleached under a continuous bleaching machine (sizing and refining bleaching).

3. The bleached fabric was subjected to Merce swelling rise treatment (caustic soda 20%, 25 ° C., 60 seconds treatment).

4. The mercerized woven fabric was enzymatically reduced under the following conditions using a jet dyeing machine. 1) Chemicals: Super Bio-K-80 (modified cellulase enzyme)
0.3% (Nakuto Kasei) Senka buffer (PH adjuster) 0.3% (Nippon Dyeka) Apiagen AG-85 (surfactant) 0.2% (Nakuto Kasei) 2) Temperature: 55 ° C 3) Time: 60 min

5. The woven fabric that had been subjected to the enzyme weight reduction was subjected to a liquid-safe treatment using a liquid-safe treatment machine under the following conditions. 1) Chemicals: Liquid ammonia (100% ammonia) 2) Temperature: -33.5 ° C 3) Time: 5 sec

6. The woven fabric that had been subjected to the liquid-safe treatment was subjected to a washer treatment under the following conditions using a jet dyeing machine. 1) Chemicals: WS-20 (surfactant) 0.1% (manufactured by Sanyo Kasei) 2) Temperature: 90 ° C 3) Time: 120 min

7. The fabric was dyed with a reactive dye, and then applied with a softening agent and tentering with a tenter processing machine.

8. Others 1) For comparison, processing was carried out by changing the above-mentioned 4 enzyme agents to a conventional type cellulase (Godoshu sake purification “GODO-TCL”). 2) Attach a side photograph with an electron microscope to clearly show the shape of the cotton fiber after processing. 3) Weight loss rate, strength, and bending resistance were measured. 4) Similar effects can be obtained by using Cellsoft Plus (Novo Corp.) as the modified cellulase enzyme.

A side view photograph of the processed product by an electron microscope is shown. FIG. 1 shows a modified cellulase-treated product, and FIG. 2 shows a conventional type cellulase-treated product.

The test results are shown in Table 1.

[0048]

[Table 1]

[0049]

Embodiment 2 1. 100% cotton is used for both the background and the warp density 131.4
A plain weave fabric having a book / in and a weft density of 71 / in was prepared, and was bleached under a continuous bleaching machine (size removal refining bleaching).

2. The bleached fabric was subjected to mercerization in the same manner as in Example 1, then dipped in liquid ammonia for 3 seconds, evaporated to evaporate ammonia, washed with water and dried.

3. The woven fabric which had been washed with water and dried was subjected to the enzyme amount reduction and the liquid-safe treatment in the same manner as in Example 1.

4, the woven fabric which had been subjected to liquid-safe treatment was immersed in water, dehydrated, stored in a freezer at -5 ° C for 5H, and then dried at 110 ° C for 2 minutes by tenter.

5. Dyeing and softening agent treatment were carried out in the same manner as in Example 1.

6. Others 1) For comparison in the same manner as in Example 1, the enzyme weight loss was carried out using Kudarai type cellulase (Godo-Sake refinement "GODO-TCL". 2) Weight loss rate, strength, and bending resistance were measured.

The test results are shown in Table 2.

[0056]

[Table 2]

[0057]

Embodiment 3 1. A plain knitted fabric using 60/2 of 100% cotton was prepared.

2. The relevant knitted fabric was bleached under a continuous bleaching machine (refining bleaching).

3. In the same manner as in Example 1, the bleached fabric was subjected to a mercerizing process, an enzyme reduction, a liquid solution treatment, a washer treatment, and a finishing process.

4. Others 1) For comparison in the same manner as in Example 1, the enzyme weight loss was performed using a conventional type cellulase (combined liquor refinement “GODO-TCL”. 2) Weight loss rate, strength and softness were tested.

The test results are shown in Table 3.

[0062]

[Table 3]

[0063]

According to the processing method of the present invention, it is possible to impart a soft feeling to the cotton-containing woven or knitted fabric with little strength reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view photograph of a fiber shape treated with modified cellulase after processing according to the present invention, taken by an electron microscope.

FIG. 2 is a side view photograph of a fiber shape subjected to conventional type cellulase treatment after processing by an electron microscope.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location D06M 11/38 D06M 11/04 B // D06M 101: 06 (72) Inventor Hiroki Iida Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture 45, Niigata-cho, Niigata-shi

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cotton-containing woven or knitted fabric is treated with a cotton swelling agent to reduce the amount thereof mainly with a modified cellulase enzyme which preferentially hydrolyzes the primary wall of the cotton fiber, and then again treated with the cotton swelling agent, followed by physical treatment. Alternatively, a processing method of fibrillating cotton fibers by performing physicochemical treatment. 2. The processing method according to claim 1, wherein the cotton swelling agent treatment is a chemical treatment using caustic soda, liquid ammonia, and a lower amine, alone or in combination. 3. The processing method according to claim 1, wherein the physical or physicochemical treatment is a treatment using a liquid stream washer, an air washer, freezing or spread drying, alone or in combination. 4. The processing method according to claim 1, wherein the cotton-containing woven or knitted fabric is a woven or knitted fabric made of 100% cotton yarn, or a composite yarn of cotton and synthetic fiber such as polyester, polyamide or polyacrylonitrile alone or in combination. .