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The chemical recycling of cellulosic fibres may represent a next-generation fibre–fibre recycling system for cotton textiles, though remaining challenges include how to accommodate fibre blends, dyes, wrinkle-free finishes, and other impurities from finishing. These challenges may disrupt the regeneration process steps and reduce the fibre quality. This study examines the impact on regenerated viscose fibre properties of a novel alkaline/acid bleaching sequence to strip reactive dyes and dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneureas (DMDHEU) wrinkle-free finish from cotton textiles. Potentially, such a bleaching sequence could advantageously be integrated into the viscose process, reducing the costs and environmental impact of the product. The study investigates the spinning performance and mechanical properties (e.g., tenacity and elongation) of the regenerated viscose fibres. The alkaline/acid bleaching sequence was found to strip the reactive dye and DMDHEU wrinkle-free finish from the cotton fabric, so the resulting pulp could successfully be spun into viscose fibres, though the mechanical properties of these fibres were worse than those of commercial viscose fibres. This study finds that reactive dyes and DMDHEU wrinkle-free finish affect the viscose dope quality and the regeneration performance. The results might lead to progress in overcoming quality challenges in cellulosic chemical recycling.

In this study, poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibres were produced and evaluated for wound dressing applications. However, the solubility of the poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix in the aqueous medium generally limits its applications. To overcome this problem, 1,2,3,4 butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) and citric acid (CA) were used as crosslinking agents. Successful bead-free nanofibres were produced, and they both preserved their fibrous structure after water treatment. The mean fibre diameters of polycarboxylic acid crosslinked nanofibres were lower compared to pure PVA nanofibres. Although the morphology of BTCA and CA crosslinked nanofibres was similar, the swelling degree of PVA/CA was found to be higher. Furthermore, toxicity and keratinocyte cell proliferation performance of produced PVA/BTCA and PVA/CA nanofibres indicated that these nanofibrous materials could be used in wound dressing applications. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Blends based on protein hydrolysate (PH), derived from waste products of the leather industry, and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA), were obtained by reactive blending and their physico-chemical properties as well as their mechanical and rheological behavior were evaluated. The effect of vinyl acetate content and of a transesterification agent added to increase interaction between polymer and bio-based components were investigated. Novel biodegradable polymeric materials for spray mulching coatings were also obtained from hydrolyzed proteins and end-functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which was used as crosslinking agent. These products, almost entirely obtained from renewable sources, represent a new type of biodegradable material which looks promising for several applications, for instance in packaging or in agriculture as transplanting or mulching films with additional fertilizing action of PH. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3416–3422, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

In this study, water-repellent, oil-repellent and flame-retardant cotton fabrics were developed by solgel technique. With this aim, nanosols were prepared using tetraethylorthosilicate and hexadecyltrimethoxysilane as precursors, guanidine dihydrogen phosphate as flame-retardant agent and Guard AFB as conventional water–oil-repellent agent, solvents and chelating agents. Then, to AC105, VA7110, PU1110 and FC9005 as polymeric additives, with/without FX8000 or urea and formaldehyde as cross-linking agents, were added some nanosols to improve washing fastness of the fabric samples. Cotton fabrics were treated with nanosols without polymeric additives by pad–dry–cure process, while they were coated with nanosols containing polymeric additives by knife-over-roll coating. Water–oil-repellent properties, flame-retardant properties, washing fastness, contact angle, whiteness, tear strength and add-on values of the coated fabric samples were determined. It was found that the cotton fabrics with good water–oil-repellence and flame-retardant properties with relatively durable properties could be produced using nanosols containing guanidine dihydrogen phosphate and urea, together with tetraethylorthosilicate and hexadecyltrimethoxysilane as precursors, and lower concentrations of Guard AFB as commercial water–oil-repellent agent. However, the fabric samples were still not sufficiently durable when washed. It was deduced that the durability of cotton fabric during washing is developed by means of treatment with nanosols containing polyvinyl acetate-based polymer. © 2016 The Textile Institute.

In this work we have developed polymeric materials from epoxidized vegetable oils in order to obtain materials with excellent mechanical properties for use as green matrix composites. Epoxidized soybean oil (ESO), epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) and different mixtures of the two oils were used to produce the polymers. Phthalic anhydride (17 mol%) and maleic anhydride (83 mol%) which has a eutectic reaction temperature of 48 °C were used as crosslinking agents while benzyl dimethyl amine (BDMA) and ethylene glycol were used as the catalyst and initiator, respectively. The results showed that samples 100ELO and 80ELO20ESO could be used as a matrix in green composites because they demonstrated good mechanical properties. © 2012 AOCS (outside the USA)., This work is part of the project IPT-310000-2010-037,''ECOTEXCOMP: Research and development of textile structures useful as reinforcement of composite materials with marked ecological character'' funded by the "Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion", with financial aid of 189,540.20 EUR, within the "Plan Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica 2008-2011" and funded by the European Union through FEDER funds, Technology Fund 2007-2013, Operational Programme on R + D + i for and on behalf of the companies.