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Abstract:
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The accumulation of charge on textile materials can provide problems in manufacturing.
Static electricity also is an inconvenience to the customer as both mild shocks and the
clinging of clothing is not desired. Antistatic agents are often applied to polyester fabrics to
reduce these effects by providing mobility of ions on the surface. Typically, excess
chemicals are applied to help improve the durability. In this research, sulfonic esters and
phosphate esters are covalently bonded to poly(acrylic acid) and applied to the surface of
polyester fabrics to increase the durability. Sodium hydroxide is used to neutralize the acids
for the mobility of ions. The sulfonic ester taurine was not found to provide any additional
antistatic properties to the combination of poly(acrylic acid) and sodium hydroxide, however,
o-phosphorylethanolamine did provide additional antistatic properties. Poly(ethylene glycol)
was added to the combination of poly(acrylic acid), o-phosphorylethanolamine, and sodium
hydroxide but was not found to provide any synergistic antistatic properties. Through use of
poly(acrylic acid), o-phosphorylethanolamine, and sodium hydroxide, a pad/dry/cure
application method was developed to obtain surface resistivity values of 9.5 Log
Ohms/Square at 45 % relative humidity on polyester fabric with approximately one percent
add on levels. The resistivity increased by less than a half an order of magnitude after three
deionized water rinses. However, the resistivity increased by almost 3.5 orders of magnitude
after one accelerated laundering equivalent to five home launderings. The finish was not
completely durable to an accelerated laundering, but the antistatic properties are still an
improvement over untreated polyester fabric before and after subjection to the same
accelerated laundering cycle. The use of poly(acrylic acid) and sodium hydroxide in
conjunction with o-phosphorylethanolamine increased the antistatic properties over that of
the phosphate ester o-phosphorylethanolamine. The durability was also improved.
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