Abstract
Long cellulose fiber (10-30 cm), extracted from Spartium junceum, was chemically treated with different softening agents with the aim to improve its textile applicability. A preliminary sensory evaluation of the treated fibers revealed an evident, though qualitative, improvement of the fiber softness. The effects of the softening agents on the fiber was evaluated quantitatively, by means of macroscopic measurements of the wettability, viscoelasticity, and thermal (thermal gravimetry) properties. Moreover, the effects of the softening treatments on the microscopic structure of the fiber and on its properties at a molecular level, were studied by optical and scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The macroscopic analysis showed that the softeners used increases the hydrophilicity and water wettability of the cellulose fiber with respect to the raw one. Moreover, the dynamical mechanical analysis on sample yarns showed that the softeners increase the interfiber frictional forces. A linear correlation between the interfiber friction and the increase of hydrophilicity and fiber wettability was shown. The treated fiber exhibits a more homogeneous thermal behaviour, due to more homogeneous structural features, since the thermal-induced cellulose fibrils depolimerization undergoes a marked temperature range contraction. These data can be well related with those obtained by microscopy analysis, showing that the fiber surface, after the treatment, appears thinner and less rough, as well as with the XRD analysis, which shows that softeners induce a significant decrease of the fiber crystallinity.