Fiber Modifications and Chemical Treatments
category
Fiber modifications encompass chemical, biological, and physical treatments that alter surface or bulk properties of natural and synthetic fibers to enhance performance, aesthetics, and functionality. Processes range from mercerization and crosslinking to plasma activation and enzyme treatment, targeting improvements in dye uptake (15–50%), tensile strength, shrink resistance, and wettability across cotton, wool, silk, and synthetic fiber systems.
Role
Bridges raw fiber limitations with end-use performance requirements, enabling machine-washable wool, wrinkle-free cotton, silk-like polyester, and bioactive fiber surfaces for medical, apparel, and technical textile markets globally.
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Subtopics
- Mercerization of Cotton Mercerization treats cotton with 18–25% NaOH solution at 15–20°C under tension, causing fiber swelli…
- Wool Chlorination and Shrink-Resist Treatments Wool chlorination uses aqueous chlorine (Cl₂ at 0.5–2.0% owf) or dichloroisocyanuric acid (DCCA) to …
- Silk Degumming and Weighting Silk degumming removes sericin protein (20–30% of raw silk weight) using 0.5–1.0% soap or 0.05–0.1% …
- Chemical Crimp and Texturization of Synthetic Fibers Chemical crimp in synthetic fibers is achieved through bicomponent spinning (side-by-side or eccentr…
- Graft Copolymerization of Textile Fibers Graft copolymerization attaches polymer side chains to fiber backbones to impart new functional prop…
- Crosslinking and Resin Finishing for Durable Press Crosslinking of cellulose uses DMDHEU (4–8% owf) or polycarboxylic acids such as BTCA (2–5% owf with…
- Enzyme Treatment of Textile Fibers Enzymatic fiber modification uses biocatalysts under mild conditions (40–60°C, pH 4.5–8.0) for targe…
- Plasma Treatment for Surface Activation Low-temperature plasma treatment modifies fiber surfaces at 10–100 Pa pressure using oxygen, nitroge…
- Chemical Hydrolysis and Surface Etching of Synthetic Fibers Alkaline hydrolysis of polyester uses NaOH (10–200 g/L) at 80–100°C for 10–60 minutes to etch the fi…
- Carbonization and Chemical Purification of Wool Carbonization removes vegetable matter (VM) contamination from raw wool by impregnating fiber with 4…