TECHNOLOGY
USDA's Cotton Flote strengthens batting Resin-modified cotton has resiliency and strength for some auto cushioning applications Cotton batting, which dominated the auto, mattress, and furniture cushion ing market before being replaced by latex and urethane foams, is trying to regain a foothold with the Department of Agriculture's Cotton Flote process. Ν. Β. Knoepfler, of USDA's South ern Regional Research Laboratory, New Orleans, told the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (in Detroit) that high-performance, chemically modi fied batting can be economically pro duced by adding two unit operations to conventional production lines: spraying the chemical formulations onto the web and drying the batting to cure the resins. Most properties of the product are equivalent or superior to those of urethane foam, according to Mr. Knoepfler. Two types of resins are used in the Cotton Flote process—a thermosetting resin to impregnate the fibers and im prove their resilience, and a thermo plastic resin which cross-links the fi bers to improve the dimensional sta
bility and tensile strength of the bat ting. Mr. Knoepfler points out that a va riety of thermosets can be used, but the most promising seem to be ureaformaldehydes, imidazolidones, and melamines. Of the three, he prefers melamines because they cure rapidly, and the slight amount of odor in the finished product can be easily con trolled with a dicyandiamide buffer. Vinyl acetate, vinyl acrylate, styrene, or butadiene resins can be used as cross-linking agents; vinyl acetate is the cheapest. The Cotton Flote product-process (U.S. Patent 3,181,225 issued to Mr. Knoepfler, Homer K. Gardner, Jr., and Henry L. E. Vix) is being licensed by USDA on a royalty-free basis to U.S. cotton mills. Current production is about 2 million pounds per year with substantially all of it going to the auto industry. The total auto cushioning market is about 90 million pounds per year. Polyurethane foam, the fastest growing segment, accounted for 37
million pounds of this market last year. All of Cotton Flote's auto market penetration to date has not been at the expense of foams. Some current production is merely a substitute for conventional, untreated cotton batting. However, Cotton Flote is replacing polyurethane foams in some high-den sity cushioning applications such as base layers in auto seat cushions. Cotton's main advantage in this ap plication is its price—about one third less than urethanes. What may be presently limiting Cotton Flote's growth is the reluctance of auto com panies to switch to a material for which there is a limited capacity. Furthermore, all of the current Cotton Flote production has been slab stock, which is die cut to shape. But a fastgrowing demand for auto cushions is for molded cushioning for sports and luxury model cars. Cotton Flote can be used for molded cushions, and its future growth will, in some measure, depend on how well it does in perfor mance and price in this application.
C&EN PROGRESS REPORT
COMMERCIAL CHEMICALS For further information on these products, just check the appropriate key numbers on the coupon on page 50, and C&EN's Readers' Information Service will forward your request to the manufacturer.
MATERIAL
COMPANY
Zirconia single crystals
C64
Electronic Space Products, Inc Los Angeles, Calif.
Sodium perborate
C65
FMC Corp. New York, N.Y.
Lactonitrile
C 66
Hope Chemical Corp. Pawtucket, R.I.
Active alumina
C 67
Kaiser Chemicals Baton Rouge, La.
1,3-Diglycerides
C 68
Supelco, Inc. Bellefonte, Pa.
Available in commercial quantities unless otherwise noted.
48 C&EN DEC. 19, 1966
FEATURES
Three new types prepared from 99.7% pure Zr0 2 ; available in sizes up to 30 grams Effervescent compound can be used in alkaline and acidic solutions to pro vide active and gaseous oxygen; for tableted denture cleansers, fine fab rics detergents, stain removing com pounds, and bleaching agents Bifunctional intermediate has uses in or ganic syntheses and as a solvent for hydrocarbon mixtures High sorptive capacity, hardness, and bulk density; used as desiccant to de hydrate liquids and gases and as a carrier for catalysts Derivatives of myristate, palmitate, and oleate are completely free of 1,2-diglyceride isomers
