Synthesis and application of modified vegetable oils in water-repellent finishing of cotton fabrics

Fluorine containing water-repellent agents—fatty acid trifluoroethyl esters were prepared by modification of different vegetable oils—castor oil, palm oil, and soybean oil via a reaction of hydrolysate of vegetable oil with 2,2,2-trifluoro ethanol. The structures of the modified vegetable oils were characterized by FT-IR. With contact angle, time for water to disappear, whiteness, and breaking strength as indicators, the optimum finishing processes of cotton fabrics with each modified vegetable oil were studied. The results showed that the cotton fabrics treated with the modified vegetable oils demonstrated excellent water repellency, while the whiteness and breaking strength of the fabrics reduced a little. The fabrics treated with modified palm oil exhibited the highest water repellency among all treated fabrics. All the treated fabrics showed good durability of water repellency after 5 cycles of washing, the contact angle remained about 90° or even higher, among which the durability of fabric treated with modified soybean oil was the best.