Canola oil-based aqueous polyurethane dispersion finishes for cellulosic modification of the textile fabric

Abstract Since government regulations have forced manufacturers to minimise volatile organic compounds and consumer trends drive the demand for environmentally friendly products, polyurethane formulations have shifted away from solvent-based polyurethane formulations toward aqueous polyurethane dispersions. Because of the current need in this work, a renewable canola oil-based polyol derived from canola oil was synthesised by the epoxidation and oxirane ring-opening procedure and polymerized with different diisocyanates, dimethylol propionic acid, and 1,4-butanediol, used to produce waterborne PU dispersion. The structural characterization of the prepared polyol and dispersions was carried out by FTIR spectroscopy. The synthesised dispersions were applied to the poly/cotton fabrics by the pad-dry-cure process and their textile performances, such as pilling resistance and color fastness properties, were investigated. The antibacterial activity of the finished applied fabrics was also evaluated against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. All the samples have shown remarkable enhancement in both anti-pilling (1/2 to 3/4 in dyed) and color fastness properties (such as rubbing in dyed, dry 3/4 to 4/5, and wet 3 to 4) as the solution concentration of the dispersions increases. The results reveal that canola oil-based PU dispersions applied as a finish to the poly/cotton fabrics enhanced their textile as well as antibacterial performance.