Composition and method for treating fibers

Abstract: A first textile treatment comprising a functional protein prepared by treating proteins such as collagen with a cross-linking agent and a solvent-base resin; a second one comprising the above functional protein and a water-base resin; a third one comprising a water-soluble organic substance having an average molecular weight of 100 to 20000 and a reactive modifier; a fourth one comprising the above functional protein and a reactive modifier; and products such as fibers and textile goods treated with one of the treatments.

Description: Technical Field The present invention relates to fiber treatment chemicals containing water-soluble organic substances, and a method for treating a fiber therewith. Background Art Hitherto many techniques have been proposed to impart moisture absorbency to, for instance, polyester synthetic fiber or textile goods made therefrom. For instance, there is a method (1) of treating synthetic fiber with a treating liquid containing acrylic or polyurethane emulsion and finely powdered natural organic substances such as collagen. However, according to above method (1), since the natural organic substance fine powder is merely physically adhered to the synthetic fiber through emulsion as a binder, the fine powder is likely to be dropped off by washing, resulting in inferior durability. Increase of the emulsion ratio to improve the durability hardens touch of the synthetic fiber, thus being less applicable to practical use. There is another method (2) to treat synthetic fibers with a treating liquid containing a modifying agent (monomer) such as polyethylene glycol compounds for improving moisture absorbency. The method (2) is superior in durability because the modifying agent forms a hydrophilic layer inside and on the synthetic fiber. However, small improvement in moisture absorbency can be observed. Still another method (3) has been proposed to treat the synthetic fiber with a treating liquid containing a protein aqueous solution and the above modifying agent. The protein solution is obtained by dissolving, for instance, silk fiber in a calcium chloride solution and dialyzing the solution with a cellophane tube. The method (3) gives at least an improvement for moisture absorbency due to adherence of protein onto the synthetic fiber but the increase of protein amount to ensure sufficient moisture absorbency makes hard touch. On the contrary, attempt to maintain the soft touch restricts the protein amount, which makes it impossible to obtain sufficient effect in moisture absorbency. In addition to the moisture absorbency and the touch described above, improvement in hydrophilic nature, antistatic property, and durability are also required for fibers and textiles. Disclosure of the Invention According to the present invention a fiber treatment chemical is defined in claim 1. Water soluble organic substances having a molecular weight of less than 100 are poor in durability. On the contrary, when the molecular weight of the water soluble organic substance exceeds 20000 and at the same time the content is increased so much as to obtain sufficient functions, the fiber touch becomes hard. Adjustment of average molecular weight can be conducted by chemical means such as hydrolytic degradation with well-used acid or alkali. It is believed that when the fiber is treated with the fiber treatment chemical of the invention, the water soluble organic substance and the reactive modifier are polymerized by the application of heat and form a durable hydrophilic layer on the surface of and in the fiber. The soluble organic substance is a protein or a protein derivative. The protein derivatives can be obtained by decomposing or modifying the protein as a base material. Concrete examples of suitable proteins are fibroin, collagen, wool and combinations thereof. For the protein, it is preferable to use the fibroin considering availability and price. However, the protein is not limited to the specific examples and other protein such as egg white, whey, and the like can also be used. For the reactive modifier, (1) hydrophilic compounds having a polymerizable vinyl group in the molecule, (2) hydrophilic compounds having an epoxy group can be used. Concrete examples of the above (1) are polyethyleneglycol diacrylate, polyethylene glycol dimetacrylate, bisphenol-A polyethyleneglycol diacrylate, bisphenol-A polyethyleneglycol di-metacrylate, bisphenol-S polyethylenglycol dimetacrylate and the like. Concrete examples of the above (2) are polyethyleneglycol diglycidyl ether and the like. In the fiber treatment chemical, chitosan can be used in addition to the water soluble organic substance and the reactive modifier. As for the chitosan, it is not necessary to limit to be of the average molecular weight from 100 to 20000. By adding chitosan to the fiber treatment chemical, an improvement in moisture absorbency can be achieved. Well known synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, polyurethane and the like may be treated with the fiber treatment chemical of the present invention. Fibrous products including thread, textile, knitting and non-woven fabric made of the synthetic fibers described above may also be treated. Cotton, wool, and hemp may be combined. Examples of such products are blouses, dress shirts, pants, skirts, cloth backings, and cover materials for furniture such as a chair. The treatment method of the surface treatment chemicals is optional and can be, for instance, a dipping method or a padding method. The dipping method includes leaving-in-room-temperature method (Shitsuon-seiti-hou in Japanese) and heat-and-stir method (Kanetsu-kakuhan-hou in Japanese). The padding method includes pad-dry method and pad-steam method, however, the pad-steam method is preferable. In the case of the fiber products, the protein becomes insoluble in water after the chemicals are heat-set, and the protein does not fall out even by repeated washing. The fiber products thus treated are so superior in durability that good feeling of touch, moisture absorbency, water vapor permeability, and transparency are still maintained even after a long period of use. Products other than the fiber products may be treated with the so-called fiber treatment chemical of the present invention including film, sheet and leather and the like. The leather includes vinyl leather, synthetic leather, artificial leather, split leather and resin coated cloth. As a method for treating a surface of film, sheet, and leather, a method of spray coating, gravure coating, or knife coating, etc. can be used. The finished surface layer of the product formed by the fiber treatment chemical gives a good surface smoothness and a comfortable touch. And the layer is so superior in transparency that print patterns on cloth, and transparency of transparent film or leather are not spoiled. A film made from the fiber treatment chemical may be prepared in advance and a finished surface layer may be formed by affixing the film on a surface of a product. The present invention is further illustrated by references to the following examples. Examples A fiber treatment chemical was prepared having the following constituents and solvents: Soluble organic substance 1 to 15 wt% reactive modifier 0.1 to 10 wt% others 0 to 10 wt% As the solvent, water, alcohol, dimethyl formamide, acetone, dimethyl sulfoxide or a mixture thereof can be used. A polymerization initiator, a carrier for the reactive modifier and others may be added as necessary as other constituents. The polymerization initiator includes peroxides, azo compounds, and metal salts. The carrier is to help the reactive modifier penetrate deep inside fiber from the surface layer. Concrete examples of the carrier are chlorobenzenes, methyl naphthalenes, diphenyls, aromatic esters, and aliphatic halogenated hydrocarbons and so on. (Experiment 1) A fiber treatment chemical was prepared having the following composition: a hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin 5 wt% a compound having the chemical formula 1 5 wt% water 89 wt% Zn (BF 4 ) 2 1 wt% The silk fibroin hydrolytic degradation product was obtained as follows. Silk fibroin yam from which sericin was removed by ordinary method was dissolved in 2N-HCl solution at 70°C for 1 hour. Then the solution was neutralized with caustic soda to obtain the hydrolytic degradation product solution of fibroin. A fibroin powder was obtained by spray drying the fibroin solution. The fibroin powder had a molecular weight of about 4800 and shows water solubility. Taffeta cloth made from 100% polyester (Meduke [Japanese unit showing weight of a textile for predetermined area] 120g/m 3 ) was impregnated in the surface treatment chemicals and was wrung to impregnation rate 70% with a mangle. The cloth was treated with heated moisture at 105°C for 10 minutes and put into a water bath at 40°C for 10 minutes. Then the cloth was dried and treated to heat set. (Experiment 2) A fiber treatment chemical was prepared having the following composition: Hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin 2 wt% collagen 3 wt% a compound having the chemical formula 2 2 wt% a compound having the chemical formula 3 4 wt% water 88.5 wt% (NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 8 0.5 wt% As the collagen, NUTRILAN (trade name, manufactured by HENKEL HAKUSUI) which was a powder having an average molecular weight of about 1500 was used. The treatment on taffeta cloth with the fiber treatment chemical was carried out in the same way as in experiment 1. (Experiment 3) A fiber treatment chemical was prepared having the following composition: Hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin 4 wt% a compound having the chemical formula 3 2 wt% a compound having the chemical formula 4 4 wt% water 39.5 wt% (NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 8 0.5 wt% chitosan 1% aqueous solution 50 wt% As the chitosan, CTA-1 lactic acid (trade name, Kataoka Chikarin Co.,Ltd.) having an average molecular weight of about 300, 000 was used. The treatment on taffeta cloth with the fiber treatment chemical was carried out in the same way as in experiment 1. (Comparison 1) The amount of the hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin in the surface treatment chemicals of experiment 1 was set to 0 and the amount of water was changed to 94 wt%. Other constituents and their concentrations were the same as in experiment 1. The treatment on the taffeta cloth with the fiber treatment chemical was carried out in the same way as in experiment 1. (Comparison 2). The amount of the hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin and collagen in the surface treatment chemicals of experiment 2 were set to 0 and the amount of water was changed to 93.5 wt%. Other constituents and their concentrations were the same as in experiment 1. The treatment on the taffeta cloth with the surface treatment chemicals was carried out in the same way as in experiment 1. (Comparison 3) The amount of the hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin and chitosan in the surface treatment chemicals of experiment 3 were set to 0 and the amount of water was changed to 93.5wt%. Other constituents and their concentrations were the same as in experiment 2. The treatment on the taffeta cloth with the fiber treatment chemical was carried out in the same way as in experiment 1. (Comparison 4) Silk fibroin having a high molecular weight was used instead of the hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin in the surface treatment chemicals of experiment 1. Other constituents and their concentrations were the same as in experiment 1. Silk fibroin having a high molecular weight in this comparison was obtained from the following process. Silk fibroin yam from which sericin was removed by a common method was heated to be dissolved in 50 wt% aqueous solution of calcium chloride and the solution thus obtained was dialyzed and desalted through a cellulose tube. The concentration of fibroin in the fibroin solution thus obtained was 4.2 wt%. The molecular weight of fibroin in the solution was about 100,000. Incidentally, since the solution is unstable (tends to gel in a few days), it was used within the day of preparation. The treatment on the taffeta cloth with the surface treatment chemicals was carried out in the same way as in experiment 1. (Comparison 5) Untreated polyester cloth without any treatment with a fiber treatment chemical was used as comparison 5. (Evaluation of characteristics) Moisture absorbency at the start and after washing and frictional electrification voltage of the treated taffeta cloth obtained by the process in experiments from 1 to 3 and comparisons from 1 to 5 were measured. And also feeling of the cloth was evaluated. These results are shown in tables 1 and 2. The moisture absorbency was measured by: leaving samples of treated taffeta cloth for 12 hours in an atmosphere of 23°C, 30%RH to condition moisture, transferring to a place having an atmosphere of 30°C, 80% RH, and measuring change in weight. The washing was carried out based on JIS L-0217 method 103. The measurement of the frictional electrification voltage was performed in compliance with JIS L-1094 method B. The feeling of the cloth was evaluated by randomly gathered 20 people to touch the samples and evaluate based on the criterion written below, on the assumption that the samples were used for a dress shirt. Point 5 ··· soft and very good feeling Point 4 ··· soft and good feeling Point 3 ··· normal. Point 2 ··· stiff and feeling is bad. Point 1 ··· stiff and feeling is very bad. The mark in the feeling column of the table shows; @ - average 4 to 5 points, ○ - average 3 to less than 4 points, Δ - average 2 to less than 3 points, ×- average 1 to less than 2 points. From table 1, it is understood that the amount of moisture absorbed in the treated taffeta cloth in experiments from 1 to 3 is high both at the beginning and after washing, showing that the taffeta has good moisture absorbency, because the taffeta is treated with a fiber treatment chemical containing a water soluble organic substance having an average molecular weight from 100 to 20000 and a reactive modifier. And the stuffy feeling of the treated taffeta cloth can be reduced when used for apparel. Especially, the taffeta of experiment 3 contains chitosan, shows remarkable improvement in moisture absorbency. The feeling of the treated taffeta cloth of experiment 3 is soft and very good. Moreover, the treated taffeta cloth of experiment 3 has a low frictional electrification voltage, showing that thus treated taffeta is material that gives little discomfort caused by static electricity. The treated taffeta of experiment 2 where taffeta is treated by a fiber treatment chemical containing silk fibroin and collagen as the water soluble organic substance, and compounds expressed by the chemical formulas 1 and 3 for reacting modifying agent, has more improved moisture absorbency and frictional electricity characteristics than the treated taffeta has in experiment 1. From table 2, it is understood that the amount of moisture absorbed in the treated taffeta cloth in comparison 1 is low both at the beginning and after washing, showing that the taffeta is faulty in moisture absorbency, because the taffeta is treated with the fiber treatment chemical as used in the experiment 1, but which contains no water soluble organic substance. The taffeta has a high frictional electrification voltage, which shows thus treated taffeta is material that is apt to give discomfort resulting from static electricity. The treated taffeta cloth in comparison 2 is treated with the fiber treatment chemical used in experiment 2 but which has no water soluble organic substance, and has a low moisture pickup and a high frictional electrification voltage. The treated taffeta cloth in comparison 3 is treated with the fiber treatment chemical used in experiment 3 but which has no water soluble organic substance, and has a low moisture pickup and a high frictional electrification voltage. The treated taffeta cloth in comparison 4 is treated with the fiber treatment chemicals used in experiment 1 but which contains a high molecular weight silk fibroin instead of a hydrolytic degradation product of silk fibroin, and is inferior in feeling. The polyester cloth in comparison 5 is untreated and has a very small moisture pickup and a very high frictional electrification voltage.

Claims: A fiber treatment chemical comprising: a water soluble organic substance having an average molecular weight of 100 to 20000 selected from the group consisting of at least one of protein or protein derivatives; a reactive modifier selected from the group consisting of at least one of a hydrophilic compound having a polymerizable vinyl group or an epoxy group in the molecule; and a polymerization initiator A fiber treatment chemical according to claim 1, further comprising chitosan in addition to said water-soluble organic substance and said reactive modifier. A fiber treatment chemical according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said polymerization initiator is selected from the group consisting of peroxides, azo compounds and metal salts. A fiber treatment chemical according to claim 3, wherein said protein is selected from the group consisting of at least one of fibroin, collagen and wool derivatives. A method of treating a fiber comprising the steps of: (i) forming a solution of a water soluble organic substance having an average molecular weight of 100 to 20000 selected from a group consisting of protein or protein derivatives; and a reactive modifier, which is selected from the group consisting of at least one of a hydrophilic compound having a polymerizable vinyl group or an epoxy group in the molecule; (ii) adding a polymerization initiator to yield a compound; and (iii) contacting said compound with the fiber to be treated. The method of claims 5 in which the polymerization initiator is selected from the group consisting of peroxides, azo compounds and metal salts.

Inventors: FUKATSU FUMIOKI, SANO MASAHIRO, YASUE TAKAHARU, FUKATSU, FUMIOKI, SANO, MASAHIRO, YASUE, TAKAHARU, FUKATSU, Fumioki Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd., SANO, Masahiro Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd., YASUE, Takaharu Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
Applicants: IDEMITSU PETROCHEMICAL CO, IDEMITSU PETROCHEMICAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: D06M15
IPC codes: D06M15, C08G18, D06M23