Fabrication of thermo-responsive cotton fabrics using poly(vinyl caprolactam-co-hydroxyethyl acrylamide) copolymer

Min Xiao; Edurne González; Alexis Martell Monterroza; Margaret Frey

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.06.092

Fabrication of thermo-responsive cotton fabrics using poly(vinyl caprolactam-co-hydroxyethyl acrylamide) copolymer

Carbohydr Polym. 2017 Oct 15:174:626-632. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.06.092. Epub 2017 Jun 23.

Authors

Min Xiao¹, Edurne González¹, Alexis Martell Monterroza², Margaret Frey³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14850, USA.
² Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14850, USA.
³ Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14850, USA. Electronic address: mfw24@cornell.edu.

PMID: 28821113
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.06.092

Abstract

A thermo-responsive polymer with hydrophilic to hydrophobic transition behavior, poly(vinyl caprolactam-co-hydroxyethyl acrylamide) P(VCL-co-HEAA), was prepared by copolymerization of vinyl caprolactam and N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide via free radical solution polymerization. The resulting copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of P(VCL-co-HEAA) was determined at 34.5°C. This thermo-responsive polymer was then grafted onto cotton fabrics using 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) as crosslinker and sodium hypophosphite (SHP) as catalyst. FTIR and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) studies confirmed the successful grafting reaction. The modified cotton fabric exhibited thermo-responsive behavior as evidenced by water vapor permeability measurement confirming decreased permeability at elevated temperature. This is the first demonstration that a PVCL based copolymer is grafted to cotton fabrics. This study provides a new thermo-responsive polymer for fabrication of smart cotton fabrics with thermally switchable hydrophilicity.

Keywords: Lower critical solution temperature (LCST); Poly(vinyl caprolactam) (PVCL); Smart cotton fabric; Thermo-responsive polymer; Water vapor permeability.