Chemical structures of various organosilicones in textile printing and dyeing auxiliaries
The development of chemical fiber synthesis technology enables the textile industry to produce textiles with chemical fiber characteristics, which are very close to natural fibers in appearance and form. They can imitate silk like silk and wool like wool. Some “high-simulation” and high-quality chemical fiber fabrics can reach the level of “fake and real”.
However, in terms of the textile processing process, pure physical processing can never make chemical fibers have the same chemical and irrational properties as natural fibers, and the comfort of fabrics cannot be compared with natural fiber fabrics. Therefore, various printing and dyeing auxiliaries are needed for post-finishing. For pure natural fabrics, in order to create more added value and improve the defects and deficiencies of fabrics, post-finishing is also required. For example, pure wool and cotton products are “super soft” finished, stiff, anti-fouling, elastic, washable, anti-static, flame retardant, shading, UV protection, hygienic and other finishing to meet the needs of increasing functionality. In addition, the continuous development of textile printing and dyeing technology also puts higher and higher requirements on auxiliaries.
The unique chemical structure of silicone is suitable for textile printing and dyeing auxiliaries. The silicon-oxygen bond structure Si-O-Si of silicone gives it a larger bond angle and bond length, and the intermolecular force is small. Unlike general organic polymers, it is easy to crystallize, so it has good air permeability; its higher bond energy makes silicone polymers have outstanding heat resistance and excellent softness; the helical structure of its molecular chain and the methyl group extending outward make it have low surface tension, good water repellency and defoaming function; because the silicon-oxygen bond (Si-H) has relatively large activity, it can be hydrolyzed and condensed under high temperature and metal salts to form a cross-linked film; the active group of silicone quaternary ammonium salt has antibacterial and mildew-proof functions.
Due to the special structure, the organosiloxane defoamer polymer has a series of characteristics such as lubrication, softness, water repellency, defoaming, antibacterial and mildew-proof, and is suitable for the finishing of various fibers such as cotton, linen, silk, wool, etc. Therefore, silicone has been recognized as a type of textile printing and dyeing auxiliary with excellent performance.
