Influence of Mercerization on Micro-structure and Properties of Kapok Blended Yarns with Different Blending Ratios

To investigate the effect of mercerization on micro-structure and the properties of kapok/cotton blended yarns. FTIR spectra and x-ray diffraction (XRD) results, moisture regains and mechanical properties of blended yarns were compared before and after mercerization. The results show that mercerization treatment did not have an obvious effect on chemical compositions of cellulose, but did lead to decreasing on crystallinity of blended yarns, and transformed certain portion of cellulose I into cellulose II. When the NaOH concentration increased from 180g/L to 250 g/L, the strengths of blended yarns increased and elongations at breaking declined, and the extent of changes were lessened gradually with the increase of kapok fiber content, when the NaOH concentration further reached 280g/L, the strengths of blended yarns with high content of kapok fiber dropped dramatically, and elongations at breaking increased gradually, while hygroscopicities of blended yarns increased significantly. Different from cotton fiber, a more moderate alkali treatment condition should be chosen in mercerization process for kapok fiber.