Abstract
Highly accessible and decrystallized cotton can be prepared by cyanoethylation with acrylonitrile after pretreatment with swelling agents. In this research, cotton fabrics with or without chemical crosslinkages were treated with acrylonitrile after impregnation with 5.4N aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, and some physical properties of the treated cotton were examined. Fairly high moisture regains were obtained. The abrasion resistance of cotton fabrics was increased by the alkaliacrylonitrile treatment. The tensile strength, elongation and moisture regain of treated fabric were increased when the alkali-acrylonitrile treatment was given to chemically crosslinked cotton fabrics, although a small loss in dry crease recovery was caused.
