Penetration of Multifunctional Epoxide into Wool and Its Effect on Shrink Resistance

Wool fibers are treated with hydrophilic multifunctional epoxides (glycerol polyglyci dyl ether—GPE) under different reaction conditions, i.e., in saturated aqueous NaCl solution (sample S) and in the absence of NaCl (sample W). Add-on percentages of both samples are almost equal, but shrink-resistant properties are different for these two samples: the shrink resistance of sample W does not improved, while that of sample S improves significantly. TEM investigations of the cross sections of these samples stained with AgNO3 reveal remarkable morphological differences.