ADVANCES IN CARBON-DIOXIDE BASED SIZING AND DESIZING

We report advances in nonaqueous sizing and desizing where liquid carb on dioxide is the solvent. New size formulations are required for carb on dioxide based sizing and desizing because traditional size material s are not soluble in this novel solvent. Toward this end, new size for mulations based on fluorinated compounds have been prepared and applie d to polyester/cotton blend yarns. Size performance is characterized w ith respect to abrasion resistance, tensile strength, and elongation-a t-break. Some of these developmental size formulations appear to have abrasion resistance in excess of three times that of conventional star ch/polyvinyl alcohol sizes, as measured by the number of abrasion cycl es to break normalized to the size add-on. Quantitative desizing by me ans of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is demonstrated using a traditional ''X-test.'' We also report desizing through several layer s of fabric to mimic desizing a roll of greige fabric.