Synthesis of Nontoxic and Bio Based Oil and Water Repellent Polymers for Cotton Fabrics Using Stearic Acid, Succinic Acid, and Itaconic Acid

Fluorocarbon-based oil and water repellents are considered best in textile finishing due to their excellent performance. Although, long chain fluorocarbons are effective oil and water repellents but they are toxic and being banned. Therefore, the present study develops two fluorine-free water-repelling polymers for cotton fabrics using ecofriendly recipes containing bio-based stearic acid and formaldehyde-free succinic acid and itaconic acid. One optimized recipe was achieved through polymerization between bio-based stearic acid and succinic acid, and other optimized recipe was achieved through polymerization between stearic acid and itaconic acid. These two recipes were applied to cotton fabric, and treated fabric exhibited a water repellency rating of 4 and an oil repellency rating of 1. The proposed polymers exhibited good oil and water repellency and washing durability up to 10 washing cycles. However, after 20 washing cycles, the proposed polymers exhibited water repellency for ironed fabric and zero oil repellency. The proposed polymers exhibited comparable or better testing results than commercial C6-based fluorocarbon. The characterization of the two best recipes was carried out through H-NMR Spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).