Surface modification of cotton fabric with dual-responsive PNIPAAm/chitosan nano hydrogel

The present study deals with preparing stimuli-responsive poly N-isopropyl acryl amide/chitosan (PNCS) nano hydrogel and looks into their effects as a surface modifying system of cotton fabric. The semi-batch surfactant-free emulsion polymerization method was proposed to reduce the size of particle and synthesis of PNCS nano particles. Fourier transform infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering methods confirmed the nano size of synthesized PNCS particles and sensitivity of these nano particles to the different temperature and pH, respectively. The water retention capacity (WRC) and carboxyl content of modified cotton with PNCS nano particles were assessed through the central composite design. The bounded PNCS nano particles to the surface of cotton fabrics made them responsive to these dual stimuli. The results demonstrated the dual effect of BTCA amount on WRC. Increase of the amount of BTCA itself led to the decrease of the WRC of modified cotton, but in the presence of PNCS, WRC was significantly increased. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.