Ethylene Glycol and Glycerin as the Solvent for Alkaline Treatment of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate) Fabrics

Abstract

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabrics are treated with sodium hydroxide using ethylene glycol or glycerin as the solvent. Compared with conventional aqueous alkaline hydrolysis, the degradation rate in ethylene glycol increases tenfold. The kinetics of the alkaline-ethylene glycol treatment show that the weight loss is linear with respect to time. The moisture regain rate and tensile properties of the treated fabrics are measured; other tests include scanning electron microscopy and dyeing properties. The results show that the properties of the treated fabrics do not depend significantly on the solvent; therefore, using ethylene glycol can greatly shorten the treatment time to achieve results similar to those with the conventional aqueous system.

Phyco-biosynthesis of Chlorella-CuO-NPs and its Immobilization on Polyester/Cotton Blended Textile Waste Activated by Cellulase Enzymes for Application as Wastewater Disinfection Filter

“…The carboxylic content was used to evaluate the enzymes working. Thus, it was applied on parent and activated fabric waste as mentioned in the previous process described by Yang and Tsai [30].…”

“…The UPF values were calculated according to the Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS-4399-1996). UPF values were calculated, and the protection category is classified as follows: (0-10) non-ratable, (15-20) good, (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35) very good, and (40-50, +50) excellent protection categories [37].…”

Increased Comfort of Polyester Fabrics

“…Treating PES fibers with alkali under controlled conditions has become a common industrial practice [18]. In addition, the use of ethylene glycol and glycerin to replace the conventional water treatment as the solvent of alkaline solution has been applied to shorten the hydrolysis treatment time and increase the hydrophilicity and dyeability of PES [19]. A novel green approach for dyeing PES has been presented to minimize water consumption using a glycerin-based eutectic solvent as a dyeing medium [20].…”

A novel method of modifying poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabric using supercritical carbon dioxide

“…But then, the PET fabric has also some drawbacks including weak hydrophilicity and poor biocompatibility, because of the lack of active side chain as well as rare active binding on organic backbone. To create cloth in conformity with the health safety requirements of the living human body, such as somewhat complicated processes are conventionally adopted to add value to PET in textile finishing, involving cospinning, 2 physical coating, 3,4 plasma discharge, 5,6 alkaline treatment, 7,8 graft polymerization, 9,10 etc. Nevertheless, some of these methods have limited practical use, and frequently lead to the hardening of the PET material, elevated production costs, and complicated work procedures.…”