Investigation Of Smart Cleaning Textiles Containing Termo-responsive Polymer For Industrial Application

During our daily wear,textiles will be easily stained.These stains not only affect the appearance of textiles,but also affect human's health.For this reason,the removal of the stain from the textiles is attracted more and more interests.Based on their thermo-responsive property,the textiles containing thermo-responsive polymers can realize the smart cleaning function:they stay hydrophilic at low temperature,hence the stains on the textiles can be easily removed.When the temperature is high,the textiles will switch to hydrophobic state,therefore the stains cannot attach on the surface.However,these type of smart textiles are relatively expensive due to the high cost of thermo-responsive polymer monomers and complex preparation process.For this reason,this project is focused on reduction of the cost by using the monomers for industry and simplifying the preparation process.The textiles with smart cleaning capability can satisfied people's needs and improve the quality of people's life.Hence it is of great interest for investigation.Inthispaper,theindustrialgrade2-?2-methoxyethoxy?ethyl methacrylate?MEO₂MA?and?ethyleneglycol?methacrylate?EGMA?were used as the monomer by free radical polymerization?Azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator?method forsynthesisofthermo-responsiverandomcopolymer poly?2-?2-methoxyethoxy?ethylmethacrylate?-co-?ethyleneglycol?methacrylate)P?MEO₂MA-co-EGMA?.The structure and thermo-responsive properties of P?MEO₂MA-co-EGMA?were characterized and its yield was calculated.The optimal cross-linking agent and process conditions were selected by the comparison of weight gain rate,thermo-responsive property and wearability.On this basis,the smart cleaning textiles were prepared,the surface morphology and structure were characterized,and their thermo-responsive properties,service performance and smart cleaning effects were studied.The industrial grade MEO₂MA and EGMA were used as the monomer.By free radicalpolymerization,thermo-responsiverandomcopolymer P?MEO₂MA-co-EGMA?can be obtained.The monomer replacement is able to effectively reduce the cost of synthesis.The free radical polymerization method can simplify the synthesis step.In addition,high production yield can be realized by increasing the amount of monomers used for the synthesis.The results of DSC and UV-Vis spectroscopy showed that the T_g of P?MEO₂MA-co-EGMA?was-47 ^oC and the LCST was 32 ^oC.Both values met the requirements of our application to textiles.BTCA was the best cross-linking agent through comparison of weight gain rate,thermo-responsive performance and service performance.The optimum process was as follows:preparation of base fabric?preparation crosslinking finishing liquid?8%thermo-responsive polymer,2.3%BTCA,1.2%SHP,88.5%water??two leaching and two rolling?prebaking?60 ^oC,8 min??baking?170 ^oC,2 min??Washing?drying.The smart cleaning textiles were prepared by using the optimal process.The results of FESEM and ATR-FTIR showed that the crosslinking process can make the thermo-responsive polymer P?MEO₂MA-co-EGMA?immobilize on the cotton fabric and form a thin film on the surface.The contact angle,equilibrium swelling rate and water vapor transmission rate of the cross-linked P?MEO₂MA-co-EGMA?fabrics all changed suddenly when the temperature was higher than the transition temperature,whichindicatedthatthepreparedcross-linkedfabricspossessedthe thermo-responsive properties.The whiteness,softness and strength of the cross-linked fabric have little change compared with that of the original cotton,and the washing fastness is good.At the same time,the cross-linked fabric has smart cleaning effect and can utilize the low-temperature hydrophilic property to achieve better than the original cotton clean.