Patent ID: 8911833
Filing Date: 2014-12-16
Classification: D04H,D06M,D10B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of treating a textile, the method comprising: irradiating a textile to cross-link fibers of the textile, where the textile is in the form of a yarn or fabric comprising a fibrous cellulosic material having a first molecular weight and a moisture content of 2 to 6 weight percent, and where the textile is treated with a dose of ionizing electron beam radiation of about 0.10 up to about 2.5 MRad, and where the treatment cross-links the fibers to increase the molecular weight of the cellulosic material to provide an irradiated textile comprising a second fibrous cellulosic material having a second molecular weight higher than the first molecular weight; and cooling the irradiated textile by contacting the textile with nitrogen gas at a temperature lower than the irradiated textile, wherein the nitrogen gas is cooled to about 77° K.