A critical reinvestigation of the TAED-activated peroxide system for low-temperature bleaching of cotton.

There exists a misunderstanding on the TAED-activated peroxide system in the textile industry that H(2)O(2) used in excess of the stoichiometric amount could produce an addition effect on bleaching of cotton under alkaline conditions. In this study, a critical reinvestigation was carried out on the TAED-activated peroxide system for bleaching of cotton. It was found that the TAED-activated peroxide system achieved its best performance under near-neutral pH conditions. No addition effect was observed when an excessive amount of H(2)O(2) was used under alkaline conditions, which is probably due to the base-catalyzed bimolecular decomposition of peracetic acid and the nucleophilic attack by H(2)O(2) on peracetic acid. NaHCO(3) was shown to be a desired alkaline agent for maintaining near-neutral pH for the TAED-activated peroxide system. This study provides new insight into the application of the TAED-activated peroxide system for low-temperature bleaching of cotton under more environmentally benign conditions.