Preparation of water-repellent cellulose fibers using a polycarboxylic acid/hydrophobic silica nanocomposite coating

This research was carried out to embed hydrophobic silica nano-particles on the cotton surface using 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) as a crosslinking agent and sodium hypophosphite as a catalyst. The influence of the amount of silica nano-particles on the performance of the cotton fibers was investigated employing Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Raman spectroscopy (RS), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), limited oxygen index (LOI), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle (WCA), reflectance spectroscopy (RS) and abrasion resistance (AR). The possible interactions between silica nano-particles, the crosslinking agent and the cotton functional groups at the surface were elucidated by ATR-FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicated that the embedded silica nano-particles modify the surface of fibers increasing the hydrophobicity and thermal stability of substrate. The microscopic analysis showed a uniform coating of silica nano-particles on the surface of fibers.