Infrared spectroscopy studies of the cyclic anhydride as the intermediate for the ester crosslinking of cotton cellulose by polycarboxylic acids. III. Molecular weight of a crosslinking agent

Polycarboxylic acids have been used as nonformaldehyde crosslinking agents for cotton fabrics to replace the traditional N-methylol reagents. In this research, we compared 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) with poly(maleic acid) (PMA) as crosslinking agents for cotton cellulose. BTCA and PMA have similar molecular structures with carboxyl groups bonded to their molecular backbones, and both form five-membered cyclic anhydride intermediates during a curing process. However, BTCA is a more effective crosslinking agent for cotton cellulose than PMA. This is mainly attributed to the differences in the mobility of the anhydride intermediates to access the cellulosic hydroxyl groups during a curing process. The mobility of the anhydride intermediate of PMA is reduced due to its molecular size and multiple bonding between a PMA molecule and cellulose. Consequently, more anhydride and less ester are detected on the cotton fabric treated with PMA than on the fabric treated with BTCA. The amount of the unreacted anhydride intermediate on the fabric treated with PMA is reduced whereas the amount of ester is increased when another hydroxyl-containing compound of low molecular weight is present. Thus, the infrared spectroscopy data show a clear link between the molecular weight of a polycarboxylic acid and its effectiveness for crosslinking cotton cellulose.