X-Ray Diffraction Studies of the Microstructure of Fibers and Properties of Hot Stretch Mercerized and Strain Hardened Ring and Compact Cotton Yarns

The mercerization of cotton fibers, a widely used natural fiber in textiles, is an important method for enhancing their structural and dyeing properties. The present work studies the characteristics of conventional and compact yarns subjected to hot stretch mercerization. Traditional and compact yarns of 30 Ne were subjected to hot mercerization at three levels of stretch, temperature, and concentration of sodium hydroxide. A three-variable factorial experimental design proposed by Box and Behnken has been used to study the interaction effects of the variables on the characteristics of the ring and compact yarns. The influences of these variables on the structural, physical, and dye uptake were studied, the response surface equations for all these properties have been derived at each level, and the process parameters were also optimized for various aspects of yarn characteristics during process. From the study, it is found that the strain-hardened yarns have improved strength, structure, better inter-fiber cohesion, and excellent dye uptake properties. Compact yarns have gained more power than conventional ring yarns by this hot stretch mercerization treatment. Increased crystallite size is also observed in X-ray diffraction studies that indicates improved crystallinity.