Catalyzation of Alkaline Hydrolysis of Polyester by Oxidizing Agents for Surface Modification

Abstract

In the literature alkaline hydrolysis to bring hydrophilicity of polyester fabric is well. Various auxiliary chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide and sodium perborate are used along with NaOH to catalyze or facilitated the surface modification of polyester. Present paper describes the use of oxidizing agents such as H₂O₂ and NaBO3 to accelerate the alkaline hydrolysis of polyester. The results indicated that although the loss in strength due to weight loss cannot be totally eliminated, there is considerable improvement in fabric wettability measured by water drop absorption, sinking time and capillary rise methods. The FTIR study indicated the introduction of hydrophilic groups like -COOH and