Effect of Cotton Cationization Using Copolymer Nanospheres on Ink-Jet Printing of Different Fabrics

In this study, the cationic Poly[Styrene-Butyl acrylate-(P-vinylbenzyl trimethyl ammonium chloride)] P(St-BA-VBT) nanospheres with N<sup>+</sup>(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub> functional groups were successfully synthesized by soap-free emulsion polymerization and ap...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Haizhen Yang, Kuanjun Fang, Xiuming Liu, Yuqing Cai, Fangfang An
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-11-01
Series:Polymers
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/10/11/1219
Description
Summary:In this study, the cationic Poly[Styrene-Butyl acrylate-(P-vinylbenzyl trimethyl ammonium chloride)] P(St-BA-VBT) nanospheres with N<sup>+</sup>(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub> functional groups were successfully synthesized by soap-free emulsion polymerization and applied to different fabrics by pad-cure process. After the pad-cure process, the nanospheres were deposited on the surface of the modified cotton fibers successfully without forming a continuous film structure. The X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results demonstrated that P(St-BA-VBT) nanospheres were adsorbed on the surface of cotton fibers successfully. The excellent color strength value and outline sharpness of the plain, twill, and honeycomb fabrics can be achieved when the nanosphere concentration, sodium bicarbonate, and steaming time were 1 g/L, 10 g/L, and 6 min, respectively. The plain fabrics exhibited the smallest color strength (<i>K</i>/<i>S</i>) values and the best outline sharpness, followed by twill and honeycomb fabrics, which displayed the largest <i>K</i>/<i>S</i> values and the worst outline sharpness after the same treatment. Besides, all the three fabrics showed excellent rubbing fastness and washing fastness. The cationic P(St-BA-VBT) nanospheres modification of the cotton fabrics provides a novel potential approach to obtain good printing efficiency without affecting the tensile breaking strength of cotton fabrics significantly.
ISSN:2073-4360