Past, present and future prospects of cotton cross-linking: New insight into nano particles

The desire for cotton fabrics having a reduced tendency to crease has been recognized for considerable time during the recorded history. Cross-linking of cellulose has been introduced as a necessary process for various purposes especially creating a cotton fabric with anti-wrinkling properties. Generally, in a cross-linked cotton fabric, cellulose chains are bridged across through chemical reaction with certain compounds. Cellulose cross-linking traced back more than 80 years and is still being actively researched. Over the past few years, there has been an enormous attention on coapplication of nano and biotechnology with crosslinking agents. Various approaches have been developed to cross-link cellulose along with imparting other properties. In this paper, literatures on cotton cross-linking were reviewed from early time to now. The formaldehyde and non-formaldehyde based cross-linking agents, applications of enzyme and nanotechnology, new approaches and future aspects of cotton cross-linking have been thoroughly discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.