Development of multifunctional cotton using fluorocarbon resin

An attempt has been made to develop multifunctional cotton fabric, possessing water repellent, stain repellent, shrink resistance and quick dry properties using fluorocarbon resin. The hydrophobicity of cotton fabric was determined by carrying out water repellency test, taking scanning electron microscopic photographs and measuring water contact angle. The durability of hydrophobicity of cotton was tested till 20 washes and found satisfactory. Oil repellency was determined employing hydrocarbons resistance test. The air permeability of cotton fabric was also determined keeping in view the impact on breathability of treated cotton and was found quite good. The untreated and treated cotton fabric was subjected to repeated domestic laundry condition, and shrinkage was measured, which indicated excellent shrink resistance behaviour because of its water repelling characteristic. This hydrophobicity of cotton also added to its quick dry behaviour even at low temperature and high relative humidity. The physical properties of treated dyed cotton fabric samples were compared with untreated, and no significant changes were observed in colour fastness to washing, rubbing, perspiration and light. The tensile and tear strength showed good retention even at higher concentration of fluorocarbon resin. This work is of great industrial importance for textile products used in home textiles. The textile industry can fetch more export earnings by doing multiple value addition using the same chemical. The work reported in the literature is about using fluorocarbon and developing water- and oil-repellent fabrics. In the present work, apart from water and oil repellency, shrink resistance and quick dry behaviour of cotton textile has also been established using same fluorocarbon because of hydrophobicity imparted to cotton.