Effects of graft modification on apparent viscosity,adhesion, and film properties of sesbania gum for warp sizing

Abstract

In order to solve such utilization problems as excessively high apparent viscosity of sizing paste and poor adhesion to polyester fibers, caused by macromolecular inherent defects of native sesbania gum (SG), various amounts of methyl acrylate (MA) monomers were grafted onto molecular chains of native SG through initiation of Fenton's reagent and a series of SG-g-PMA with different grafting ratios were prepared. Effects of the graft modification on sizing properties of SG-g-PMA were studied in terms of apparent viscosity, contact angle of sizing paste on polyester fibers, water-solubility, mechanical properties of sizing film, adhesion to polyester fibers, and tensile properties of sized polyester warp yarns. It was found that the graft modification for SG was a simple and effective method to improve its sizing properties for polyester yarns and to omit specific viscosity reduction procedure used commonly for SG at present. In view of overall performance of SG-g-PMA sizes, the appropriate grafting ratio should be 18.70%.