Modification of cellulose fabrics with reactive polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes to improve their shape‐memory performance

Reactive polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (R‐POSS) containing multi‐N‐methylol is a functional and attractive staring monomer for new reinforcement materials. R‐POSS has excellent potential as a nanosized core for starburst dendrimers and highly reactive multi‐N‐methylol. R‐POSS can be used for cellulose fabric finishing to improve its shape‐memory performance. Factors affecting the crosslinking reaction of the cellulose with R‐POSS were investigated. The physical properties and morphological structure of the cellulose fabrics modified with R‐POSS are discussed with respect to the crease recovery angle, the whiteness index, micro‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the crease recovery angle of the fabric modified with R‐POSS obviously increased. With increasing R‐POSS concentration, the crease recovery angle of the modified fabric sharply increased. R‐POSS readily crosslinked to cellulose and improved the elastic recovery of the cellulose fabrics. The surfaces of the cellulose fibers modified with R‐POSS were smooth and full. The inclusion of R‐POSS with dimethylol dihydroxyl ethylene urea to modify the cellulose showed very interesting results. It showed a good combination of an increase of crease recovery angle and a decrease in tensile strength. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010