Chemistry Aids Cottons Walter M. Scott, Gustavus J. Esselen, Inc., Boston, Mass. ROGRESSIVE manufacturers have capitalized on new developments, but the industry as a whole has been slow to realize the possibilities of profit opened to it b y research. The connection of cotton with research is not so obvious as that o f the synthetic fibers designated by the general term "rayon." Rayon originated in the chemical laboratory and improvements are continually being made in these fibers through continued research. Cotton, o n the other hand, is a product of Nature, and manufacturers have, perhaps subconsciously, assumed it foolish to attempt to improve on Nature's handiwork. The inconsistency of this viewpoint is apparent. Research has opened the door to just a s many new and valuable developments in cotton as have contributed to the tremendous increase in the volume of sales of rayon fabrics during the past decade. These provide a wonderful opportunity for the cotton textile industry to develop new markets and regain lost ones. For decades mercerizing was the only chemical treatment extensively applied to cotton. Recently research has suggested many other chemical methods of modifying the properties of the cotton fibers. Wool-like effects are produced by treating the cotton with a solution of copper oxide in ammonia containing not over 1.5 per cent of free caustic alkali. Certain modifications of this treatment—the socalled Furness method—impart t o the cotton a permanent Just rous finish approaching that of rayon. Treatments with strong sulfuric acid give cotton fabrics a linenlike appearance or produce a parchment effect, depending upon the conditions. It is even possible to render cotton fabrics transparent without substantially affecting their softness by treating them with strong sulfuric acid at low temperatures. The dyeing properties of cotton are entirely changed and at the same time special waterproofing effects are produced by subjecting the fibers to chemical treatments which partially convert them into esters of cellulose. Cotton thus treated is called "immunized cotton." It is unaffected by the ordinary direct cotton dyestuffs but can be dyed with the colloidal dye dispersions used for acetate rayon. Novel cross-dye effects can be produced on fabrics made of both immunized and untreated cotton. In addition to such chemical changes in the cotton itself, new and novel finishes have been produced in cotton fabrics by introducing various materials into or upon the fibers. The results are much more permanent than the usual starch or gum finishes which have long been used by cotton manufacturers. Solutions of cellulose esters or ethers, familiar in modern lacquers, have come into increasing use as finishes for cotton. An alkaline viscose solution, of the type used for spinning rayon, has been successfully used for impregnating cotton fabrics. After t he impregnation the fabrics are run through a weak acid solution to coagulate the viscose and produce a permanent finish on the cotton. Similarly cotton has been treated with an alkali-soluble cellulose ether, then passed through a coagulating acid bath, and finally washed t o remove the acid. Cotton goods finished in this manner can be washed many times without substantial change in their appearance. One of the most significant developments in recent years is the impregnation of cotton fabrics with synthetic resins. Several interesting results are produced in this way, but by far the most important
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Valuable new properties imparted t o cotton goods by chemical treatment open new profit possibilities to New England textile mills. That textile manufacturers think of cotton as a finished product of Nature's handiwork which cannot be improved has allowed rayon fabrics to monopolize markets rightly belonging to cotton goods. Active chemical research and adoption of new treatments as developed will enable cotton manufacturers to regain lost markets and open new ones.
at present is the added resistance to creasing imparted to the treated cotton. The most common resin employed for this purpose is the condensation product of urea and formaldehyde. The cotton is impregnated with an aqueous solution of urea and formaldehyde in suitable proportions and the fabric is then subjected to heat to form the resin. Another class of resins of increasing importance in t his connect ion is the acrylate group. Both the acrylate and the urea-formaldehyde resins have the distinct advantage of being clear and colorless so that they have no effect upon the color of the fabrics to which they are applied. In addition to the property of creaseresistance, the resin treatment is said to increase the fastness of colored cotton fabrics to washing. Moreover, schreiner and calender finishes, which usually disappear in the first wash, may be made substantially permanent by incorporating a synthetic resin into the fabric just prior to the calendering. Resins may also be added to starch filling pastes so that the cotton materials treated with them will retain their original stiffness even after several washings. Waterproof or showerproof cotton fabrics have been produced for a long time with more or less success. The waterproofing has usually been accomplished by treatments with wax or with aluminum soaps formed in and around the fibers by alternate treatments with aluminum acetate and soap. Modern research has improved wax emulsions to such an extent that the waterproofing of fabrics by wax can be made much more effective. Certain new chlorinated waxes aid in fireproofing cotton fabrics as well. Research has been responsible for these spectacular developments. In addition, other research into all phases of cotton manufacture has been less highly publicized but has had a direct bearing upon the quality of goods produced. For example, exhaustive studies have been made of the raw cotton and of the ginning, spinning, sizing, bleaching, mercerizing, dyeing, and printing processes. Many striking improvements have been made in the machinery used in the various stages of cotton manufacture. Startling revelations concerning the internal structure of the cotton fiber have come from the researches of Wanda K. Farr at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and have opened up entirely new fields of speculation as to the behavior of cotton. The bearing of these studies upon the future of cotton manufacture is deemed of such importance that the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists has organized a com297
mittee to cooperate with Mrs. Farr in working out practical applications of her discoveries. It is fitting to ask whether cotton manufacturers have taken full advantage of all the research in their field. The answer is "no." Progressive manufacturers have capitalized on new developments, but the industry as a whole has been slow to realize the possibilities of profit made available by research. A typical example of this attitude is furnished by nonshrinking cotton fabrics. Some manufacturers have preshrunk their goods for years, but the great majority of cotton men gave no serious consideration t o this treatment until the phenomenal success of the sanforizing process demonstrated that unshrinkable cotton fabrics had a definite popular appeal. These illustrate the increased value and appeal which can be added to cotton textiles by applying research. Cotton fabrics will grow in popularity if manufacturers will use the tools which research has placed in their hands to improve the beauty and utility of their product. Synthetic Resins in New
Jersey
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HE most famous name in the synthetic resin field is that of L. H. Baekeland. In 1910 Dr. Baekeland entrusted Perth Amboy, N. J., with his first commercial plant for the manufacture of his new heathardening resin plastics. New Jersey now has the largest ethyl cellulose unit in the world at Hercules Powder Co. of Parlin. It has the largest thermosetting resin plant in the world in the Bound Brook plant of the Bakélite Corp., which represents an enlargement on the combined plants of the General Bakélite Corp., Condensite Co., and Redmanol Co. The largest ethylene sulfide synthetic rubber plant in the world is now being built at Yardville, where a rush to double the plant capacity is in progress. Thiokol did twice the business in 1936 as in 1935, and expects to double again in 1937. The late depression did not greatly interrupt the growth of the synthetic resin field, as witnessed by the large newplant of the Bakélite Corp. at Bound Brook. This plant is finished, but the inrush of new and unexpected departments and developments has already caused survey for enlargement purposes. At Parlin, the Hercules Powder Co. is erecting a large cellulose acetate plant with installation of the latest German machinery and processes. Also, an entirely new synthetic resin plant is being erected by Beck-Koller and Co. at Elizabeth. The du Pont company is erecting new plants for Neoprene and Lucite at Deepwater and at Arlington. Other New Jersey plastic plants are Catalin at Fords; Resinox at Edgewater; Unyte at Grasselli; Synthetic Plastics at Bound Brook; Alladinite at Orange; Luxene at Bloomfield; Nixon Nitration Co. at Nixon; Celluloid Corp. at Newark; Isolantite at Belleville; Meigsoid at Jersey City; and Jewelin at Woodside. This partial survey does not cover a still larger group of the fabricators or corporations producing molded articles from plastic materials. NORTH J E R S E Y SECTION, A. C.
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