Non-formaldehyde, crease-resistant modification of cellulosic material by means of an organotrialkoxysilane and metal alkoxides

Cellulosic material is chemically modified to impart crease-resistant properties to textile products. Due to health considerations formaldehyde-free chemicals are preferred. For this purpose, (3-glycidyloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) in combination with metal alkoxides aluminium isopropoxide (AIP), titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTP), zircon tetrabutoxide (ZTB) were applied to cotton raw material and cotton fabrics which were pre-treated with butane-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA)/sodium hypophosphite. The as-prepared samples were tested for dry crease recovery angle, tensile strength, tear strength, air permeability, contact angle and whiteness index. The application of GPTMS/AIP resulted in excellent crease resistance values, whereas TTP and ZTB provided a moderate improvement of the wrinkle resistance. The application of the hydrophobic methyltriethoxysilane, octyltriethoxysilane and Dynasylan F8815 (fluoroalkylfunctional water-borne oligosiloxane) caused a significant increase in the contact angle. Fourier-transform-infrared spectroscopy proved the formation of an ester-linkage between BTCA and the cellulose.