Influence of periodate oxidation on sorption properties of viscose yarn

Abstract

Viscose yarn was submitted to oxidation using different sodium periodate concentrations for various periods of time in order to investigate the influence of oxidation on the chemical and sorption properties of the resulting yarns. The oxidation progress was monitored through periodate consumption, aldehyde group content and weight loss of the modified samples. The aldehyde groups were introduced into the oxidized viscose up to 1.284 mmol/g, while the weight loss was generally of about 5%. Compared to the untreated yarn, the oxidized samples exhibited lower water retention and iodine sorption values - of 32.4% and 53.6%, respectively, while moisture sorption values decreased for an oxidation time up to 180 min and increased when the time of oxidation was longer, up to 360 min. The changes in viscose yarn wettability, because of the oxidation treatment, were evaluated based on the parameters determined by the capillary rise method, which are related to the coefficient of diffusion and radius of pores.