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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #255762
Title: Preparation and Characterization of Macro- & Monomers for Azide & Alkyne Cycloaddition Polyerization

Author
item Chang, Sechin
item Prevost, Nicolette
item Sachinvala, Navzer
item Parikh, Dharnidhar
item Lambert, Alexander
item Sawhney, Amar
item JARRETT, WILLIAM - University Of Southern Mississippi

Submitted to: Polymer Preprints
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2005
Publication Date: 3/15/2005
Citation: Chang, S., Prevost, N.T., Sachinvala, N.D., Parikh, D.V., Lambert, A.A., Sawhney, A.P., Jarrett, W.A. 2005. Preparation and Characterization of Macro- & Monomers for Azide & Alkyne Cycloaddition Polyerization. Polymer Preprints. 46(1):737-738.

Interpretive Summary: As part of our program to develop new high volume uses for cotton, we decided to develop new elastic materials that behave very much like cotton so that when cotton is dissolved with the elastic materials a new bicomponent film can be generated. The goal of this work is to develop new textiles with cotton that allow moisture (water vapor) to respire through the film but restrict the trans-migration of water droplets. This work will benefit scientists involved in generating new uses for cotton as well as manufacturers of technical textiles for athletic apparel.

Technical Abstract: In 1970 Robert Harper and colleagues, showed that poly(ethylene oxide)s and Poly(propylene oxide)s (PEOs and PPOs, respectively) are effective softeners for cotton fabrics (Textile Chemist and Colorist, 1970, 2(1), 37-41. Using this information, we developed PEO and PPO dibromides and diepoxides to show that the mechanical performance--tensile strength, tearing strength, and abrasion resistance--of finished durable press cotton fabrics need not be sacrificed. In fact it can be enhanced with the chain end difunctional polymers. Herein, we converted the PEO dibromides, to their corresponding diazides and used them to study cycloaddition polymerization with bisphenol-A dipropargyl ether to produce elastomers compatible with cotton. The reactants were characterized with proton and carbon NMR and mass spectrometry methods. The cycloaddition process was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The peak curing temperature of the addition reaction occurred at +159oC, and the products of the reaction showed the onset of glass transition at –37oC. Further characterization of the cycloaddition reaction products is currently under way.