Modifications to improve the adhesion of crosslinked starch sizes to fiber substrates

This paper describes improvements to starch sizes, both for stability of the viscosity of the hot pastes and for adhesion to fibers. Crosslinking of starch stabilizes the viscosity of sizing paste, but excess crosslinking damages the adhesion to cotton and polyester/cotton blend fibers. The problem with decreased adhesion can be eliminated by cationic modification of the crosslinked starch. The effect of cationic modification is present even when the degree of substitution is as small as 0.021. Increasing the extent of cationic modification enhances adhesion. Moreover, cationic modification does not deteriorate viscosity stability.