Simultaneous crosslinking and cationization of cotton cellulose by using dialdehyde and choline chloride: comparison between the pad-dry-cure and microwave irradiation process

Simultaneous crosslinking and cationization of cotton cellulose were carried out by using two dialdehydes, glyoxal (GO) and glutaraldehyde (GA), along with choline chloride (ChCl). Two heating methods, conventional pad-dry-cure (PDC) and microwave irradiation, were investigated and compared. The results revealed that two aldehyde molecules reacted very differently in the presence of ChCl under two different heating methods. GO reacted predominantly with the cellulose molecule, stimulating the crosslinking reaction and consequently resulting in high wrinkle recovery angle (WRA) values regardless of the heating process. Contrarily, GA favored the reaction with ChCl, allowing high K/S values with acid dye under microwave irradiation. The crosslinked and cationized cotton cellulose was only obtained by treatment with GA and ChCl under the PDC process, resulting in high WRA and K/S values. Characteristics of the treated fabrics were also evaluated by Fourier transform infrared analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, water of imbibition, and tensile strength test. Additionally, the treatments with GA and ChCl also provided high antimicrobial properties of the cotton celluloses; thereby most bacteria reductions of the specimens were close or equal to 99.9 %. Therefore, economically viable yet ecofriendly crosslinking and cationization of cotton cellulose could be made by treatment with GA and ChCl.