Influence of Potassium Permanganate Oxidation on Structure and Properties of Cotton

Cotton yarn was oxidized using the various concentrations and pH of potassium permanganate solutions, in order to investigate the influence of oxidation parameters on chemical, mechanical and sorption properties of cotton. The oxidation progress was monitored through weight loss, carbonyl and carboxyl group content, tensile strength, moisture sorption, crystallinity change, surface charge and morphology of modified samples. The carboxyl groups were introduced into the oxidized cotton up to 0.3 mmol·g−1, while the weight loss was up to 5%. The oxidized samples, compared with untreated cotton, exhibited lower tensile strength, higher moisture sorption and surface roughness. Surface charge was evaluated through measurement of zeta potential at different pH of electrolyte, and the correlation was established between carboxyl group content and zeta values measured at neutral pH, which proved that zeta potential can be a valuable tool for characterizing changes in the structure of oxidized cellulose textile materials.