Water-and oil-repellent treatment of textile

Details Water-and oil-repellent treatment of textile Water-and oil-repellent treatment of textile

2002-12-24

2004-05-25

Cameron, Erma (Department: 1762)

Coating processes

With post-treatment of coating or coating material

Liquid extraction of coating constituent or cleaning coating

C427S377000, C427S387000, C427S389900, C427S393400

Reexamination Certificate

active

06740357

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a treatment for imparting excellent water repellency, oil repellency and soil releasability to a textile. A method of the present invention is particularly useful for a carpet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hitherto, various treatment methods have been proposed in order to impart water repellency, oil repellency and soil releasability to a textile such as a carpet. For example, a process (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “Exhaust process”) of treating a textile comprising decreasing a pH of a treatment liquid, applying the treatment liquid to the textile, thermally treating the textile with steam, washing the textile with water, and dehydrating the textile is proposed.
A method comprising the Exhaust process is proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,073,442, 5,520,962, 5,516,337 and 5,851,595 and International Publication WO 98/50619.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,442 discloses a method of treating a textile, comprising conducting an Exhaust process by using a water- and oil-repellent agent comprising a fluorine-containing compound, a formaldehyde condensation product and an acrylic polymer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,520,962 and 5,851,595 disclose a method of treating a carpet, comprising conducting an Exhaust process by using a fluorine-containing compound and a polymeric binder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,337 discloses a method of treating a textile, comprising conducting an Exhaust process by using a fluorine-containing water- and oil-repellent agent and a metal compound such as aluminum sulfate. International Publication WO 98/50619 discloses a method of treating a carpet, comprising conducting an Exhaust process by using a fluorine-containing water- and oil-repellent agent and a salt such as a magnesium salt.
JP-A-2000-144119 discloses a water-based soil release agent composition which comprises fine particles of a fluorine-containing copolymer comprising a (meth)acrylate having a polyfluoroalkyl group, an alkyl acrylate ester and a (meth)acrylate monoester of polyol, and a water-based medium. However, the use of the Exhaust process is not described, and a substrate treated with said water-based soil release agent composition is poor in water repellency, oil repellency and soil releasability.
Hitherto, a treatment agent satisfying both of excellent water- and oil-repellency and excellent soil releasability by using the Exhaust process could not be obtained.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to give a textile excellent in water repellency, oil repellency and soil releasability, when the textile is treated with a water- and oil-repellent agent by an Exhaust process.
The present invention provides a method of preparing a treated textile, comprising steps of:
(1) preparing a treatment liquid comprising a water- and oil-repellent agent,
(2) adjusting pH of the treatment liquid to at most 7,
(3) applying the treatment liquid to a textile,
(4) treating the textile with steam, and
(5) washing the textile with water and dehydrating the textile,
wherein the water- and oil-repellent agent comprises (A) a fluorine-containing compound which is a fluorine-containing polymer, and (B) a urethane compound and/or (C) a silicon-containing compound.
The present invention also provides a textile prepared by the above-mentioned method and a water- and oil-repellent agent used in the above-mentioned method.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The procedure used in the present invention is an Exhaust process which comprises decreasing pH of a treatment liquid comprising a fluorine-containing compound, applying a treatment liquid to a textile, thermally treating the textile, washing the textile with water, and dehydrating the textile.
In the step (1) of the method of the present invention, the treatment liquid comprising the water- and oil-repellent agent, which is applied to the textile, is prepared. The treatment liquid comprising the water- and oil-repellent agent may be in the form of a solution or an emulsion, particularly an aqueous emulsion.
In the step (2) in the method of the present invention, pH of the treatment liquid is brought to at most 7. pH of the treatment liquid is, for example, at most 5, e.g., at most 4, particularly at most 3, especially at most 2. pH can be decreased by addition of an acid such as an aqueous solution of citraconic acid and an aqueous solution of sulfamic acid to the treatment liquid.
In the step (3) of the method of the present invention, the treatment liquid is applied to the textile. The water- and oil-repellent agent can be applied to a substrate to be treated (that is, the textile) by a know procedure. The application of the treatment liquid can be conducted by immersion, spraying and coating. Usually, the treatment liquid is diluted with an organic solvent or water, and is adhered to surfaces of the substrate by a well-known procedure such as an immersion coating, a spray coating and a foam coating to a fabric (for example, a carpet cloth), a yarn (for example, a carpet yarn) or an original fiber. If necessary, the treatment liquid is applied together with a suitable crosslinking agent, followed by curing. It is also possible to add mothproofing agents, softeners, antimicrobial agents, flame retardants, antistatic agents, paint fixing agents, crease-proofing agents, etc. to the treatment liquid. The concentration of the water- and oil-repellent agent active component (that is, the fluorine-containing compound) in the treatment liquid contacted with the substrate may be from 0.01 to 10% by weight, for example, from 0.05 to 10% by weight, based on the treatment liquid. A stain blocking agent may used in the amount of, for example, 0 to 1,000 parts by weight, particularly 1 to 500 parts by weight, in terms of solid, per 100 parts by weight of the fluorine-containing compound.
In the step (4) of the method of the present invention, the textile is thermally treated. The thermal treatment can be conducted by applying a steam (for example, 90 to 110° C.) to the textile under a normal pressure for e.g., 10 seconds to 10 minutes.
In the step (5) of the method of the present invention, the textile is washed with water and dehydrated. The thermally treated textile is washed with water at least once. Then, in order to remove excess water, the textile is dehydrated by a usual dehydration procedure such as a centrifuging and vacuuming procedure.
After the step (5), the textile can be dried.
The fluorine-containing compound is a fluorine-containing polymer.
The fluorine-containing polymer may be a polymer comprising a repeat unit derived from a fluoroalkyl group-containing monomer such as a fluoroalkyl group-containing (meth)acrylate, a fluoroalkyl group-containing maleate or fumarate, or a fluoroalkyl group-containing urethane.
The fluoroalkyl group-containing (meth)acrylate ester may be of the formula:
Rf—A—OCOCR
11
═CH
2
wherein Rf is a fluoroalkyl group having 3 to 21 carbon atoms, R
11
is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and A is a divalent organic group.
In the above formula, A may be a linear or branched alkylene group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a —SO
2
N(R
21
)R
22
— group or a —CH
2
CH(OR
23
)CH
2
— group (R
21
is an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, R
22
is a linear or branched alkylene group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and R
23
is a hydrogen atom or an acyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms).
Examples of the fluoroalkyl group-containing (meth)acrylate are as follows:
 Rf—(CH
2
)
n
OCOCR
3
═CH
2
  (2)
 Rf—O—Ar—CH
2
OCOCR
3
═CH
2
  (6)
wherein Rf is a fluoroalkyl group having 3 to 21 carbon atoms, R
1
is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, R
2
is an alkylene group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, R
3
is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and Ar is arylene group optionally having a substituent, and n is an integer of 1 to 10.
Specific examples of the fluoroalkyl group-containing (meth)acrylate are as follows:
CF
3
(CF
2
)
7
(CH
2
)
10
OCOCH═CH
2
CF
3
(CF
2
)
7
(CH
2
)
10
OCOC(CH
3
)═CH
2
CF
3
(CF
2
)
6
CH
2

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