Bj. Traskmorrell et Bak. Andrews, THERMOANALYTICAL STUDY OF DURABLE PRESS REACTANT LEVELS ON COTTON FABRICS .1. NONFORMALDEHYDE POLYCARBOXYLIC ACIDS, Textile research journal, 64(12), 1994, pp. 729-736
A current goal of our research is to identify unknown durable press (D
p) finishes on cotton fabrics using only thermal analytical techniques
. In pursuit of this goal, we have treated 100% cotton printcloth with
five low- and nonformaldehyde finishes at four to six treatment level
s. Two polycarboxylic acids-citric and butanetetracarboxylic-were used
with sodium hypophosphite catalyst to produce nonformaldehyde fabric
finishes. Three formaldehyde-based finishes were produced with 1,3-dim
ethylol-4,5-dihydroxyethyleneurea. Results of differential scanning ca
lorimetric and thermogravimetric analyses were compared with those of
untreated and catalyst-treated controls. The thermal parameters tested
to recognize reactants included amount of residue, maximum rates of w
eight loss, peak temperatures, and peak areas, along with various para
meter ratios. There were progressive changes in all fabric thermograms
as agent/catalyst levels increased. Even at the 2% agent lever, we co
uld detect that fabric had been treated. It was also not difficult to
distinguish between the low- and nonformaldehyde DP finishes. Thermal
profiles of catalyst controls indicated that the catalyst was a substa
ntial contributor to thermal parameters. This study has brought fabric
finish identification using thermal analyses much closer to reality.