JPS6141957B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

Textile fiber leveling agents, i.e. polyoxysilane prepared by the condensation reaction of aliphatic fatty acids having about 8 to about 22 carbons in the chain, or mixtures thereof, with a mixture of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide in the presence of an alkaline catalyst. Random copolymer of ethylene polyoxypropylene glycol monoester. These aliphatic esters are water soluble, microbially degradable, and exhibit excellent smoothness when applied to synthetic fibers. This ester has the following empirical formula: where R is an aliphatic chain having about 7 to about 21 carbon atoms, and M is an oxyethylene group [-CH ₂ .CH ₂ .O-] and an oxypropylene group [-CH ₂ .CH (CH ₃ )・O-]. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to smoothed textile fibers consisting of synthetic fibers and random copolymers of textile smoothing agents, more particularly polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene glycol monoester. . Description of the Prior Art The inventors are aware of US Pat. No. 3,770,701, US Pat. No. 2,620,304, and US Pat. The present inventor is a co-inventor of the surfactant described in US Pat. No. 3,770,701. It is well known that virtually all newly produced synthetic textile fibers cannot be processed into yarns and fabrics in textile mills due to lack of smoothness and/or static-induced fiber disorder, stickiness and breakage. be. However, these processing difficulties are usually overcome by applying "textile leveling agents" or "fiber finishes" to the fibers. Traditional textile finishes used on synthetic textile fibers are made up of three components. The first component is a smoothing agent that serves as a base. Both mineral oils or aliphatic esters (eg, butyl stearate) are the most widely used leveling agents. The second component is an antistatic agent to reduce static electricity, which is common to almost all synthetic fibers and especially synthetic fibers with poor moisture regain properties. Antistatic agents are generally cationic (quaternary amines or imidazolinium salts) or anionic (salts of partial esters of phosphoric acid). The third component is an emulsifier. The use of emulsifiers is necessary since even finishing ingredients are most conveniently applied from dilute aqueous emulsions. Commonly used emulsifiers are nonionic (polyoxyethylene ethers and polyoxyethylene esters) or anionic (salts of alkylaryl sulfonic acids). Fortes et al. Patent No. 2730498
No. discloses typical finishes. The leveling agents traditionally used have a number of drawbacks, chief among them being their volatility. In other words, the leveling agent contains undesirable vapors generated around the yarn or fiber drying equipment. The insolubility of mineral oil and aliphatic ester leveling agents in water is a further problem. When the leveling agent is not soluble in water, it is difficult to apply it to common fibers. To overcome this, the leveling agent is emulsified with water. The non-uniform and unstable nature of these emulsions often results in the leveling agent not being applied uniformly to the fibers. Processing problems usually result from this non-uniform application. Even when good emulsions are made, a significant portion of the emulsifier required in the emulsion has a negative effect on fiber smoothness. Another problem with oil-based leveling agents is that it is difficult to remove the leveling agent from the fibers after they have been processed into textile yarns or fabrics. Cleaning of these oil-laden fabrics must be thorough and thorough, as they result in mottled, uneven dyeing and poor hand properties of the fabric. Yet another problem is that after the leveling agent has been washed off, it must be disposed of. Disposal by textile mill sewage treatment creates oil films or alicks near rivers and ponds. This oil can be separated by bacteria, if at all, only very slowly. In the past, attempts have been made to overcome the above problems by using aliphatic esters of polyoxyethylene glycol as leveling agents or emulsifiers. These efforts have had only limited success in certain circumstances. The failure of these products to completely eliminate this difficulty is due to the nature of the substances they contain. In order to achieve good smoothness from the fatty acid part of the product, it is necessary to have as long an aliphatic hydrocarbon chain as possible, at least 8 carbon atoms in length, and preferably more than 12 carbon atoms in length. In order to produce water-soluble esters of such acids, it is necessary to use proportionally long polyoxyethylene glycol chains. This produces a pasty solid product or a highly viscous liquid that is too thick for use in high speed processing of textile fibers. Surfactants and leveling agents having an aliphatic alcohol or carboxylic acid and an oxyethylene group in series are known, such as for example US Pat. No. 2,457,139 to Fife et al. However, such compounds are generally unsatisfactory for high speed textile production because they are not soluble in water or have too high a viscosity or do not contain enough hydrocarbon chains. It is believed that the above problems are overcome by the leveling agent of the present invention. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the process of the present invention involves converting fatty acids or mixtures thereof under condensation reaction conditions to ethylene oxide and propylene oxide to produce aliphatic esters having aliphatic chains containing 8 to 22 carbons. It includes combining with a mixture of
The resulting smoothing agent has excellent smoothing properties and is easily and easily applied to synthetic fibers, and it is soluble in water, liquid at room temperature, and is further decomposed by microorganisms. It is therefore desirable to provide a liquid, water-soluble, microbially degradable textile fiber leveling agent having suitable viscosity and hydrocarbon chain length to act as a textile leveling agent for synthetic fibers, and a method for making the same. This is the first objective of the present invention. It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic fibers that is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to handle, easily applied to the fibers, and efficient to operate. It can be applied uniformly to the fibers and can be processed without appreciable changes in pick-up or "hand". It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic fibers. It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic fibers that does not require external heating during use, storage or transportation under normal conditions and does not easily separate during long term cargo storage. It is a purpose. It is another object of the present invention to provide a synthetic fiber smoothing agent that is stable at fiber drying temperatures and that does not readily volatilize from the fibers by water vapor when the fibers are heated to elevated temperatures. It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for textile fibers that is not expelled from the fibers during drying and reduces the risk of fire in the exhaust system of a textile mill. It is essential to provide a leveling agent which, when applied to the fibers, has the effect of cleaning the machinery that handles the fibers, thereby keeping it in a clean condition and removing pre-deposited and various types of leveling agents. Another object of the invention. It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic staple fibers that is not appreciably affected by changes in the conventional PH or the PH of the finished water with which the staple fibers are processed. It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic fibers that reduces the amount of heat required to dry the fibers when used in the leveling agent for synthetic fibers. When applied to fibers, they stick to the fibers and do not separate, reducing the amount of smoothing agent required per linear foot of fiber processed and the time it takes to clean the machinery that handles the fibers. It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent that also shortens. It is another object of the present invention to provide a textile smoothing agent which, when applied to rayon, increases the speed at which the rayon is carded, while at the same time reducing its splatter during drawing and starting or drawing formation. . It is another object of the present invention to provide water-soluble leveling agents for synthetic fibers that have improved wetting rates when compared to leveling agents that are not water-soluble. It is an object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic fibers that improves the appearance and cleanliness of carded webs, woven packages and the quality appearance and hand of yarns and fabrics made from fibers containing the leveling agent. Another purpose of It is another object of the present invention to provide a leveling agent for synthetic stabilization fibers that reduces and possibly eliminates card wrap tackiness. Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention that follows. DETAILED DESCRIPTION More specifically, the objects of the present invention are achieved by the water-soluble, liquid, microbially degradable smoothing agents described below having excellent smoothness for textile fibers, and The smoothing agent is made from aliphatic fatty acids, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. These smoothing agents add 8 to the aliphatic chain.
a fatty acid having 1 to 22 carbon atoms, preferably 12 to 18 carbon atoms, or a mixture thereof, with a mixture of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide in a weight ratio of ethylene oxide to propylene oxide of about 1.0:1 to about 2.5:1; Manufactured by reaction. The smoothing agent of the present invention comprises, by weight, 40% to 75% ethylene oxide, 10% to 40% propylene oxide and 18% to fatty acids.
Contains a composition obtained by reacting 35%. The obtained random copolymer of polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene glycol monoester is represented by the following general formula. In the test, R is an aliphatic chain having 7 to 21 carbon atoms, and M is an oxyethylene group [-CH ₂ CH ₂ O-] and an oxypropylene group [-CH ₂ CH (CH ₃ ) O- ], this mixture is about 65% to about 82% of the total weight of the leveling agent, and the weight ratio of oxyethylene groups to oxypropylene groups of this mixture is
It ranges from 1.0:1 to 2.5:1. The resulting random polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene glycol monoester has a molecular weight of about 412 to about 1900, a viscosity of about 50 centipoise to about 300 centipoise at 25°C, and is water soluble, about 20% by weight in water at 25°C. It produces an aqueous solution with a flash point of about 400〓 or above and 68〓
(20℃) or below, with a freezing point or freezing range. It is understood that when a mixture of aliphatic acids or fatty acids is used in the condensation reaction, the products obtained are a mixture of compounds having the above formula, but differing from each other in the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group. Should. It has been found that using only critical amounts of acid, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, it is possible to produce a product that is water-soluble, liquid, microbially degradable, and has excellent smoothness for textile fibers. The aliphatic acids or fatty acids used in the preparation of the leveling agents of this invention are those containing from 8 to 22 carbon atoms in the aliphatic chain. Mixtures of these acids may also be used and are preferred since their use provides a good balance of properties and these mixtures are readily available from natural, animal and plant sources. Aliphatic acids with fewer than 8 carbon atoms result in products with poor smoothness (probably because there are not enough repeats of CH ₂ groups common in mineral and vegetable oil smoothing agents). . Aliphatic acids with more than 22 carbon atoms have a high viscosity and therefore produce products of such high molecular weight that they only have value as leveling agents under very high temperature conditions not encountered in textile processing. arise. Examples of acids that are effective in this method are capric acid, pelargonic acid, capric acid,
Includes lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, hydrogenated marine oil fatty acids, isostearic acid, and mixtures thereof. The products of the invention are prepared by condensing fatty acids or mixtures thereof with mixtures of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide as described above. The mixture of oxides is preferably added to the acid in one continuous step or in each step in a series.
When added by a series of stages, the ratio of oxides at each stage need not be within the above ranges, but the total weight after all stages must be as specified as defined. must be present in a specific proportion and be present in a portion of the total product. The ratio of oxides is critical to the properties of the reaction products obtained. If the ethylene oxide:propylene oxide ratio is less than about 1.0:1, the finished product will not dissolve in water. This ratio is about
If it is greater than 2.5:1, the finished product (particularly obtained from high molecular weight fatty acids) is a viscous fluid or paste. Furthermore, the weight percentage of the oxide mixture in the finished product is also critical. When the oxide mixture is less than about 65% of the product, the product is not appreciably soluble in water. When the oxide mixture is greater than about 82% of the product, the viscosity of the product is too high at room temperature for smoothing of such fibers in the product in which textile fibers are to be processed at high speeds. The products of this invention are generally prepared by condensing fatty acids or mixtures thereof with mixtures of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide at temperatures of about 110°C to 180°C and pressures of atmospheric pressure to about 100 psi in the presence of an alkaline catalyst. be done. The invention will be better understood by reference to the following examples. All parts listed in the examples are parts by weight. EXAMPLE - The process described below was repeated for each group of drugs listed in Table 1. Purge a clean, dry reaction vessel with nitrogen;
This is combined with an aliphatic acid and a potassium hydroxide catalyst (1.0
-1.5% by weight). This mixture was heated to 135℃.
A mixture of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide was added to the acid and catalyst mixture over a period of 4 to 8 hours at 150° C. with stirring and a pressure of 20-100 psi. After about an additional hour, the pressure stabilized indicating that the oxide reaction was complete. The product was cooled to below 100°C, the reaction vessel was degassed, the catalyst was neutralized with glacial acetic acid, and the reaction product was removed.

TABLE In Table 1, it is noted that examples, , XI, and give unsuitable products. In the examples, the proportion of acid was too high to produce a liquid that was insoluble in water. In Examples and XI, the amount of propylene oxide was too low to produce a paste. In Examples and In the amount of propylene oxide was too high to produce an insoluble liquid. In the example, the amount of ethylene oxide was too high to form a paste. Using 7 parts smoothing agent and 1 part antistatic agent,
The compatibility of selected products from the above examples with commonly used antistatic agents was further tested. The table below shows the test results.

Table: To compare the thermal stability of the example leveling agents with other similar textile finishes, beakers containing equal amounts of each were placed side by side on a hot plate and the temperature was rapidly increased. . I watched carefully as the decomposition clearly appeared. The results of these experiments are listed in Table 1.

[Table] In order to test the water vapor volatility of the examples and compare it with similar products, they were added to 150 ml of tap water.
to a concentration of approximately 0.3%. The water was then evaporated in an oven at 85-95°C to simulate drying room conditions for wet staple fibers. By keeping the temperature below 100°C, it was assumed that product loss was a function of volatilization with water vapor since there were no boiling or entrainment effects. The results of these tests are shown in Table 1.

Further tests were carried out using each of the examples and leveling agents applied to acrylic spun carpet yarns, which were pulled with weights over steel pins. Under these circumstances, a satisfactory lubricant produced a tension of less than 220 g, while a satisfactory mineral oil type lubricant according to the prior art produced a tension of 195 g. The yarn treated in the example exhibited a tensile strength of 145 g, and the yarn treated in the example exhibited a tensile strength of 140 g. When using the smoothing agent of the present invention, about 0.2% to about 3% smoothing agent is required based on the weight of the fibers. should contain approximately 0.25% of Furthermore, in heavier carpet yarns, the leveling agent should constitute about 0.6% of the total weight of the yarn. In filamentary yarns for knitting, the leveling agent should constitute about 1% of the total weight of the yarn;
and for industrial yarns such as diamond cord, conveyor belt cord, etc., it should constitute about 2 to about 3% of the total weight of the cord or yarn. One advantage of the present leveling agent is the fact that it does not require emulsifiers to produce a suitable leveling agent. In other words, the polyoxyethylene, polyoxypropylene, glycol monoester random copolymers of the present invention are suitable for use as such, alone or in aqueous solution, and are processed into single fibers in the same way as the prior art finishes. It can be applied both to spun or stapled synthetic fibers. For example, the leveling agent of the present invention can be dripped onto the fiber mat. The fibers may be dipped in the leveling agent and then squeezed, or the leveling agent may be sprayed onto the fibers. Additionally, the leveling agents of the present invention can be mixed with various antistatic agents if desired. Thus, when used as a leveling agent for nylon or polyester fibers, it is recommended to use the leveling agent of the present invention in combination with any of the antistatic agents that are compatible therewith. The smoothing agent of the present invention is used to smooth filaments made of nylon and polyester.
Particularly useful for and rayon stable fibers. Alternatively, when a small amount of the leveling agent of the present invention is to be applied to staple fibers, the leveling agent may be diluted with water to a concentration of up to about 20% by weight to provide an aqueous solution of the leveling agent of the present invention. This is then sprayed onto the mat of staple fibers. An approximately 10% aqueous solution is recommended. After spraying, the water is usually driven out using hot air. Generally, the smoothing agent of the present invention is applied to the synthetic staple yarn immediately after cutting the yarn and prior to baling the yarn. A thread of yarn can be applied to the smoothing agent by e.g. “kiss coating”.
Alternatively, it should be applied immediately after drawing the fibers by passing the drawn fibers through a bath of the present smoothing agent. This smoothing agent is particularly suitable for application to virtually all synthetic fibers, as well as cotton,
It is also utilized to apply to natural fibers such as wool and silk. From the foregoing, it is now apparent that the present chemically produced leveling agents have a uniformity that exceeds that of conventional natural leveling agents. Quality control problems are thus reduced. Changes in pick-up and hand of fibers treated with the present smoothing agents are minimal, and it is also possible to increase carding speeds when treating synthetic fibers containing the present smoothing agents. Furthermore, since the smoothing agent of the present invention is a liquid at room temperature, the smoothing agent itself does not require special handling to store it, requiring external heating, water vapor tracer lines, or special storage. The leveling agent of the present invention or the same does not separate during storage as cargo. Other conventional finishes have a strong tendency to separate when stored for long periods of time. The leveling agents of the present invention are believed to be stable at temperatures much higher than those applied to the fibers during the drying process. Furthermore, it is clear that the leveling agent of the present invention is not easily volatilized by water vapor. This is a significant advantage for rayon treated with this smoothing agent over rayon treated with conventional smoothing agents, which easily volatilize from the rayon during oven drying of the product, thereby collecting in the exhaust system and creating a significant fire hazard. It is considered to be motsu. In fact, it is clear that the leveling agent of the invention remains on the fibers even after steam drying, thereby reducing the fire risk and also shortening the cleaning time. Whereas previously machines used in the production of staple fibers were heavily contaminated due to loss of smoothing agent during staple processing, it appears that the present smoothing agent has just the opposite effect. For example, when the smoothing agent of the present invention is used on rayon fibers, it cleans the machinery through which the fibers pass, instead of causing "gum" buildup in the machinery. The leveling agent of the present invention is unaffected by moderate pH changes in the finished water. In fact, when using certain conventional leveling agents, the texture can be completely changed by changing the PH of the wash. The fact that when the smoothing agents of the present invention are used with rayon staple fibers, less heat is required to dry the fibers containing the smoothing agents of the present invention than for rayon treated with conventional smoothing agents is primarily an economic advantage. is important. Thus, a mill can use its existing equipment for drying and charge even more fiber to this drying equipment simply by adding additional spinnerets, thereby Capacity can be increased by 10%-25%. Since the smoothing agent of the present invention is an ester, it has a mild and pleasant odor, and this odor accompanies the factory during use. Additionally, bales of fiber treated with the present smoothing agents are believed to have a cleaner odor. It is clear that the evenness and uniformity when applying the present leveling agent to the fibers is improved over conventional leveling agents. When using fibers treated with the leveling agent of the present invention, the mill finishing solution remains clean and stable without agitation. When staple fibers using the present smoothing agent are processed in a textile carder (card), the carder can operate at higher pound per hour rates. It is clear that the synthetic fibers treated with the present smoothing agent have less scattering on the drawing machine and especially on the drawing machine. The wetting rate of fibers treated with the present leveling agents is believed to be much faster than fibers treated with conventional leveling agents that are insoluble in water. This is particularly useful for non-woven fabrics such as linings due to the disposable diaper. The resiliency, openness, and texture of staple fibers using this smoothing agent are considered to be excellent. By adding the good hand provided by the smoothing agents of the present invention, mills can have high confidence in fibers finished with the smoothing agents of the present invention. Card webs, spun packages and yarns have a more elongated and clean appearance. The tackiness common to card wraps obtained from fibers treated with fatty acids is eliminated when treating fibers treated with the leveling agents of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. (a) a synthetic fiber; and (b) a formula on the synthetic fiber; [wherein R is an aliphatic chain having 7 to 21 carbon atoms, and M is a random mixture of oxyethylene and oxypropylene groups, which mixture accounts for about 65% of the total weight. or about 82
%, and the weight ratio of oxyethylene and oxypropylene in the mixture is 1.0:1 to 1.0:1.
2.5:1], which is a water-soluble liquid having a viscosity of 50 to 300 centipoise at 25°C.