Azevedo Tiago, Silva Ana Catarina, Machado Gonçalo, Chaves Diego, Ribeiro Ana Isabel, Fangueiro Raul, Ferreira Diana P
Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal.
Polopiqué, Rua da Baiona, Vilarinho, 4795-784 Santo Tirso, Portugal.
Polymers (Basel). 2025 May 19;17(10):1392. doi: 10.3390/polym17101392.
The textile industry is under increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices due to the significant environmental impacts associated with fiber production, including high energy consumption, water usage, and substantial greenhouse gas emissions. The recycling of textile waste, particularly cotton, is a promising solution that has the potential to reduce landfill waste and decrease the demand for virgin fibers. However, mechanically recycled cotton fibers frequently demonstrate diminished mechanical properties compared to virgin fibers, which limits their potential for high-quality textile applications. This study explores the use of cross-linking agents (citric acid (CA) and sodium hypophosphite (SHP)), polymers (polyethylene glycol (PEG), chitosan (CH), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and starch (ST)), and silicas (anionic (SA) and cationic (SC)) to enhance the mechanical properties of recycled cotton fibers. The treatments were then subjected to a hierarchical ranking, with the effectiveness of each treatment determined by its impact on enhancing fiber tenacity. The findings of this research indicate that the most effective treatment was starck (ST_50), which resulted in an enhancement of tenacity from 14.63 cN/tex to 15.34 cN/tex (+4.9%), closely followed by CA-SHP_110/110, which also reached 15.34 cN/tex (+4.6%). Other notable improvements were observed with CMC_50 (15.23 cN/tex), PEG_50 (14.91 cN/tex), and CA_50 (14.89 cN/tex), all in comparison to the control. In terms of yarn quality, the CA-SHP_110/110 treatment yielded the most substantial reductions in yarn irregularities, including thin places, thick places, and with decreases of 36%, 10%, and 7%, respectively. Furthermore, CA_50 exhibited moderate enhancements in yarn regularity, thin places (-12%), thick places (-6.1%), and (-8.9%). The results of this study demonstrate that combining CA with SHP, particularly when preceded by the heating of the solution before the addition of the fibers, results in a substantial enhancement of the structural integrity, strength, and overall quality of recycled cotton fibers. This approach offers a viable pathway for the improvement of the performance of recycled cotton, thereby facilitating its wider utilization in high-quality textile products.
由于纤维生产对环境有重大影响，包括高能耗、高用水量和大量温室气体排放，纺织行业面临着越来越大的采用可持续做法的压力。纺织废料的回收利用，特别是棉花的回收利用，是一个有前景的解决方案，有可能减少垃圾填埋场的废弃物，并降低对原生纤维的需求。然而，与原生纤维相比，机械回收的棉纤维的机械性能常常会下降，这限制了它们在高质量纺织品应用中的潜力。本研究探索了使用交联剂（柠檬酸（CA）和次磷酸钠（SHP））、聚合物（聚乙二醇（PEG）、壳聚糖（CH）、羧甲基纤维素（CMC）和淀粉（ST））以及二氧化硅（阴离子型（SA）和阳离子型（SC））来提高回收棉纤维的机械性能。然后对这些处理进行分级排序，每种处理的有效性由其对提高纤维强度的影响来确定。本研究的结果表明，最有效的处理方法是淀粉（ST_50），它使强度从14.63厘牛/特克斯提高到15.34厘牛/特克斯（提高了4.9%），紧随其后的是CA-SHP_110/110，其强度也达到了15.34厘牛/特克斯（提高了4.6%）。与对照相比，CMC_50（15.23厘牛/特克斯）、PEG_50（14.91厘牛/特克斯）和CA_50（14.89厘牛/特克斯）也有显著改善。在纱线质量方面，CA-SHP_110/110处理使纱线不匀率大幅降低，包括细段、粗段和棉结，分别降低了36%、10%和7%。此外，CA_50在纱线均匀度、细段（-12%）、粗段（-6.1%）和棉结（-8.9%）方面有适度提高。本研究结果表明，将CA与SHP结合使用，特别是在添加纤维之前先对溶液进行加热，可显著提高回收棉纤维的结构完整性、强度和整体质量。这种方法为提高回收棉的性能提供了一条可行途径，从而有助于其在高质量纺织产品中的更广泛应用。
