Effect of titanium complexes on cotton modified with urethane triacrylate

Cotton cellulose was modified with urethane triacrylate under ultraviolet ( UV) radiation in the presence of a carboamide monomer (N-vinyl pyrrolidone, NVP) diluent and a diacrylated reactive monomer (tripropylene glycol diacr ylate, TPGDA). Both tenacity and elongation of the treated cotton were enha nced. Incorporation of titanium complexes in the formulation increased the tensile properties substantially. The Ti-complexes were made with benzohydr oxamoto-ethylenediamine and benzohydroxamoto-pyridine. Effect of ligands of the Ti-complexes was also investigated and it was observed that the comple xes made significant contributions toward improvement of the tensile proper ties of cotton. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.