Application Of The Sol-Gel Technology For Textiles Function Finishing

The sol-gel process is a kind of technology that begins with metal organic or inorganic compounds and solidifies through a solution-sol-gel evolvement, finally resulting very fine particles of oxide. As a method of preparing materials, this technology has been applied to a great many of aspects such as specific glasses, fibers, powders, films, coatings, composite materials, etc. However, the research and application of the sol-gel process on textiles have not been for a long time yet. In this dissertation, a series of sols were prepared based on the principles of the sol-gel process, and then were applied on textiles through traditional pad-dry-cure techniques, endowing textiles with kinds of special functions. Primary experimental results showed that the sol-gel process technology was not only feasible for textiles' function finishing after treatment, but also had promising and bright prospect.A compound and complex three-dimensional networks could be formed on the surface of fibers after the sol-gel treatment, which may be used to endow the textiles with special functions such as anti-ultraviolet radiation, antibacterial, antistatic, releasing negative ion and enhancing the wash fastness of dyes and so on. Not only the added value of textiles is improved, but also the competitive ability of textiles trade could be strengthened at the same time.Titanium sols were prepared to enhance the ultraviolet protection property of cotton fabrics in the dissertation. The UV transmittance of treated fabrics decreased considerably after sol treatment, assisted with fluorescent whitening agent, the UV resistance was improved further, and the yellowing incurred by the sol treatment was also eliminated. The use of self-developed polyacrylate adhesive could increase not only the washing durability but also the UV resistance of the fabric, and at the same time strength loss also was resolved. The strength, hand, air permeability tests of the treated fabrics showed no negative effects from a series of treatment on the cotton fabrics.Silane sols were prepared with organic precursors to improve the antistatic property of polyester fabrics. The experimental results showed that the inductive static voltage, volume specific resistance and half-time of treated PET fabrics were improved considerably by sol treatment, while there were no negative effects on the whiteness, strengthes and handle of the treated fabrics.Silane hydrosol and titanium hydrosol were prepared and mixed according to different mol ratios, and then used fixing direct dyes and experimental results showed that direct dyed fabrics got good washing fastness after the sol-gel treatment by the mixed sol of Si/Ti=14: 1; It was found that silane hydrosol was used for fixing DirectBlack GF dyed cotton, and good washing fastness and darkening effect were obtained. The colorfastness of treated fabrics dyed with Direct Black GF was improved obviously and the K/S curves rose up greatly compared with the untreated, and the darkening effect made it possible get very full black color with excellent wet fastness with relative small amount of the Direct Black GF dye.Other applications of the sol-gel technology on textiles were discussed in the dissertation as well, such as water-repellency, antibacterial, releasing negative ion etc. Experimental results showed that the cotton treated with titanium sols resulted in good antibacterial property, the cotton treated with titanium hydrosol possessed better water-repellency and contact angle of water exceeded 130°, the cotton treated with silane and titanium sols both can release a lot of negative ion to play a role in purifying the air and do some health to people.The preparation conditions of both silane hydrosol and titanium hydrosol, and the technique conditions for the application of sol-gel technology on textiles finishing were discussed in the dissertation, appropriate conditions were determined approximately.The particle size of the sols and morphology of the gels on the fibers were characterized by Nanosizer, SEM and AFM. The fabrics treated with sols and gels powder were investigated with IR, TG, DSC analyzers. The primary mechanisms of anti-ultraviolet radiation, antibacterial, antistatic, releasing negative ion and enhancing the wash fastness of direct dyes with sol-gel process were discussed in the dissertation.Xu Peng (Textile Chemistry&Dyeing and Finishing Engineering)Supervised by Professor Chen Shuilin...