JPS59179874A - Modification of polyester fiber product - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for modifying polyester textiles using low temperature plasma.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a polyester fiber product whose modified performance is particularly excellent in durability compared to conventional methods.

Polyester fibers are strong, two-dimensionally stable, and washable.
Although it has excellent properties such as wearability and quick-drying properties, it has drawbacks due to its hydrophobicity, such as performance problems such as hydrophilicity, antifouling property, soil release property and re-staining property, which limits its applications. was there. Various methods have been proposed to improve these problems, but in recent years, active research has begun on methods that utilize low-temperature plasma to modify the surface of polymeric materials, and It has also been proposed to apply this method to The present inventors have continued to study ways to use this low-temperature plasma to modify the surface of polyester textiles, particularly to impart properties such as hydrophilicity and soil release properties. Although it showed excellent performance, it was found that the obtained performance deteriorated significantly due to repeated selection or leaving at a high temperature of 100° C. or higher, that is, there was a problem with the durability of processing performance.

In order to solve this problem, the inventors of the present invention further conducted intensive studies and found that when polyester fibers are subjected to low-temperature plasma treatment, the temperature of the polyester fibers has a significant effect on the treatment effect, especially the treatment effect. The present invention was achieved based on the discovery that modification with excellent durability can be achieved by selecting an appropriate temperature range and performing the treatment.

That is, 7 the present invention is a polyester characterized by subjecting the polyester fiber product to low temperature plasma treatment at a temperature above the secondary transition point of the polyester fiber and below 180°C. This is a method for modifying textile products.

Hereinafter, one aspect of the present invention will be explained in detail.

The polyester fiber product as used in the present invention means a fiber product made of polyethylene terecrate fiber or copolyester fiber made by copolymerizing terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol with a third component, and the form thereof is cotton, thread, or woven fabric. It may be any kind of fabric such as knitted fabric or non-woven fabric, or a secondary product. In addition, low-temperature plasma is a non-equilibrium plasma in which gas particles are generated by glow discharge in a gas such as /lr, 02, N2, Cot air, etc. under low pressure and are in an ionized state or an excited activated state. be. This low-temperature plasma has already been put to practical use in plasma polymerization and plasma etching methods. To generate low-temperature plasma, a vacuum container is evacuated and depressurized using a vacuum pump, and a predetermined gas is introduced.
After adjusting the degree of vacuum to a constant level within the range of 2.0 Torr, electric energy is applied to cause glow discharge.

The gases at this time include the above Ar, Ox, N
2, Co, air, etc., as well as l-based monomer gases, formalin, and ammonia.

Various gases such as organic gases such as methanol can be used.1 They are selected depending on the desired reforming effect.

In addition, the electric energy may be applied either by direct current voltage or alternating current voltage, and generally 13.56M1lz
0.1~], OW/cn! Apply at the output of At this time, low-temperature plasma is generated in the space between the electrodes, and an object in this atmosphere or an object passed through this atmosphere can be subjected to low-temperature plasma treatment. Conventionally, in such a low-temperature plasma processing method, the temperature of the object to be processed has not been actively controlled. In other words, there have been methods of incorporating a heater into the electrode to raise the temperature in plasma etching processing in integrated circuit manufacturing and plasma polymerization on a laboratory scale, but methods that involve continuous transfer in a plasma atmosphere have been proposed.
In the treatment of objects, etc., there has not been a method of actively controlling the temperature of the object. According to the research results of the present inventors, it has become clear that when treating polymeric substances with low-temperature plasma, the temperature of the object to be treated during treatment greatly affects the treatment effect, especially the durability of the treatment effect. The durability of the processing effect on polyester textiles, which could not be achieved even by changing other factors such as vacuum degree, gas flow rate, electrical energy, etc., which prevent low-temperature plasma generation, can be achieved by achieving a certain processing temperature range. I understand. In the case of polyester textiles, this temperature range is above the secondary transition point of the polyester textile to be treated and below 180°C. In this temperature range, if the treatment is carried out in a temperature range of 120° C. or higher and 160° C. or lower, better treatment effects and durability can be stably obtained.

On the other hand, when treated below the secondary transition point, the treatment effect immediately after treatment is excellent, but the durability is poor. Also, conversely, 180
When the temperature exceeds .degree. C., the treatment effect immediately after treatment decreases rapidly.

Although there are many unknowns about the causes of this, it can be considered as follows in the case of processing with low-temperature plasma using air. The effect of air plasma treatment on polyester textiles is that oxygen molecules or oxygen atoms excited by the low-temperature plasma react to form hydrophilic groups such as carboxyl groups, and the etching effect of the low-temperature plasma causes the fiber surface to become rough and have minute irregularities. Hydrophilic and antifouling properties are developed by forming a surface, but in this case, oxygen atoms or oxygen molecules in a low-temperature plasma state can only act on the surface of polyester fibers, so repeated washing after treatment or leaving them at high temperatures will weaken the fibers. The performance obtained is degraded due to rotation or inward movement of molecular chains on the surface. That is, the durability is poor.

However, if the temperature of polyester textiles during low-temperature plasma treatment is above the second-order transition point, oxygen will react with the molecular chains being able to move during the low-temperature plasma treatment, resulting in substantial hydrophilicity. As the formation of groups increases, rotation of one molecular chain also occurs during the reaction, so hydrophilic groups are formed around the polyvarnish 121 molecular chains arranged on one surface.
Performance deterioration due to repeated washing after treatment or exposure to high temperatures is reduced. However, if the 5 treatment'/A''a degree exceeds 180°C, the texture of polyester textile products will be damaged, and in addition to the formation of hydrophilic groups, cross-linking will increase in the low-temperature plasma reaction. , on the contrary, the desired processing effect will be reduced.

The processing temperature must be 180°C or less. Also.

In view of the initial performance obtained and its durability, it is even more preferable that the treatment temperature is 160°C or less.

Exactly the same thing can be said about low-temperature plasmas other than oxygen plasma.

In fact, there are methods to control the temperature of polyester textiles during low-temperature plasma treatment, such as adjusting the high frequency power, adjusting the distance between the electrodes, and adjusting the degree of vacuum. A roll, coiled pipe, etc. is installed in an electrically insulated state through which the heat medium can pass, and the polyester textile is passed through it in contact with it, and the heat medium is heated or cooled outside the low-temperature plasma treatment tank. A method of adjusting the temperature to a predetermined temperature and circulating it can be used.

If the low-temperature plasma treatment is performed at a temperature above the secondary transition point of polyester textiles and below 180°C, water absorption and stain resistance will be improved when the treatment gas is oxygen gas, air, etc. In the case of fluorine-based gases, it has good water and oil repellency, and for other gases, it has good reforming effects depending on the gas.

Moreover, it can be obtained with excellent durability.

Next, the method of the present invention will be explained with reference to examples. In the examples, water absorption was measured by the JIS-L-1096 biresoku method, water repellency was measured by the JIS-L-1018 spray method, and leta resistance was measured by the engine engine spray method. Add a drop of 0.2ml of an artificial stain solution containing activated carbon to the sample and leave it for 20 hours.
After washing at home, the residual state of dirt is determined using a 5-level contamination gray scale [grade 5 (good) to grade 1 (poor)]
I went there.

Example 1 Polyester yarn fabric (warp + 506.I weight 1)
50d/2. Warp density: 110/inches, weft density: 55 threads/
Samples of T+ (medium) were prepared, and 9 portions were divided into 9 portions, and sample numbers 1 to 9 were assigned to each sample.

Next, these samples were subjected to plasma treatment at a temperature of 1-1 degrees Celsius under the plasma conditions listed in Table 1 below.

Sample No. 1.4.7 is the method of the present invention, and the others are comparative examples with the present invention.

Table 1 Low temperature plasma conditions one □ H □ In addition, the temperature of the sample cloth during low-temperature plasma treatment.

Silicone oil was circulated in a flexible tube installed in the center between the electrodes, and the silicone oil was adjusted while heating the sample fabric to a predetermined temperature outside the low-temperature plasma treatment tank.

For each sample treated in this way, the performance after low-temperature plasma treatment (unwashed) and after repeated washing 10 times was evaluated as sample N.
o, For 1 to 6, the water absorption and stain resistance were also evaluated for sample tooth 7.
For items 9 to 9, water repellency was measured.

The results are shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.

Table 2 L--i Top---Kami 111 Engineering-□-1-2, 2-211-2←j Table 3As is clear from Tables 2 and 3, each gas In the low-temperature plasma treatment, the samples treated by the method according to the present invention (sample Nos. 1, 4, and 7) had excellent performance after treatment compared with the comparative example, but in particular, the performance after washing 10 times was very poor. It is clear that the method of the present invention is superior.

Patent applicant: Unitika Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A polyester fiber characterized by subjecting the polyester fiber to low-temperature plasma treatment at a temperature above the secondary transition point of the polyester fiber and below 180°C. Method of modifying products.