Fibrillation Property of the Lyocell Fibers Treated by N-hydroxymethyl Cross-linking Agents

Lyocell fibers are subject to fibrillate under wet conditions, which severely affects the appearance of this kind of fabrics. Cross-Unking treatment is an important way to prevent fibrillation of lyocell fibers. In this study, two kinds of traditional N-hydroxymethyl cross-linking agents were used to treat lyocell fibers and the wet abrasion values of lyocell fibers were measured in a wet abrasion test. The results show the wet abrasion values of lyocell fibers increase with the increasing concentration of the cross-linking agents, which indicates the anti-fibrillation property of the treated fibers has been improved. But the mechanical properties of the treated fibers decreased in some extent. The FT-IR spectroscopy analysis shows that the lyocell fibers have cross-linked with cross-linking agents. The SEM analysis results show the fibers treated by 4% DMDHEU or 5% SECO have good anti-fibrillation properties.