Enhancement of Water Content of Cellulose Fabrics Through Surface Grafting with Polyethylene glycol

Abstract

Surface modification using various methods have been performed to improve the water and moisture absorption properties of fibers and fabrics. Among them, chemical modification has been used as means of improving and enhancing solubility of cellulose and its derivatives by using appropriate chemical entities such as: introducing water soluble entities, hydrophilic moieties, bulky, and hydrocarbon groups, etc. In this study, chemical coupling of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to cellulose fabric surface were successfully produced using a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous solution selected the reaction media. We controlled various surface grafting conditions, such as mole fraction of NaOH and PEG, reaction temperature, and time. Analysis of data showed that PEG concentration has the most noticeable effect on grafting efficiency. Surface grafting did not improve solubility of cellulose fabric. The water content (%) of the neat and PEG grafted cellulose fabrics were ~7 and ~17, respectively.