A New Catalyst in the Crease Recovery Finishing of Silk Fabrics with Epoxide

IntroductionSilk, among natural and synthetic fibers, is one of themost favored textile materials because of its excellent wearcomfort and elegant appearance. Because of theseproperties, it is regarded as a luxury material. Silk has acombination of many desirable properties. Unfortunately,its major weakness, a very low wet resiliency, causesconsiderable inconvenience in the use of silk textiles. Sincethe beginning of 1970 s, much research has been carriedout, ma…

A New Catalyst in the Crease Recovery Finishing of Silk Fabrics with Epoxide

The paper here intends to discuss silk crease recovery finishing behavior with ED GE (ethylene diglycidal ether) in the presence of a new catalyst WSH. The results show that ED GE reacts with silk fibroin and forms cross linkages through ether bond. The formation of cross linking was examined by FITR spectroscopy, soluble time in acid solution and changes of amino acids. Handle of treated silk with catalyst WSH is better than that of silk treated with the traditional catalysts such as thiosulfates and thiocyanates. Finishing technique, physical properties of the finished silk fabrics and evaluation of cross linkages are discussed.