This award is for support of a cooperative project by Dr. Abdelfattah Seyam, College of Textiles, at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, and Dr. Nabil Abou-Zeid, of the Textile Research Division, the National Research Center in Cairo, Egypt. The goal of this joint research is to seek improvement in the sizing materials used in manufacturing of textiles. One objective is to reduce or eliminate the need for removing the sizing. Current sizes are designed to be washed off after treatments, thus releasing considerable amounts of chemical waste in the water used for washing. A second objective is to demonstrate that it is possible to improve the quality of the final product with the permanent sizing. To accomplish this the researchers plan to seek chemical bonding between the sizing with the cellulose molecules of the cotton fabric. For this purpose, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) will be used. The work will involve converting PVA with different molecular sizes to reactive products through introduction of: N-methylol groups; chlorine; epoxy groups; and pendent double bonds. These reactions will be carried out under various conditions to control the reaction and hence the reactivity of the products and their other properties. Selected reactive PVA products would then be applied to cotton warps, and the resultant yarn will be tested for the desirable properties of the woven fabrics. Scope: This research project involves scientists with significant experience from two well known research centers in the area of textile chemistry and manufacturing. The objectives of the research is to develop products that can be used as permanent sizes which can then impart to the yarns certain properties such as texture, wear, and weight. The NRC in Cairo has already done a significant amount of exploratory work in the area of applying reactive compounds to typical starch sizing materials. The NCSU researcher is an expert in the area of resin-treated cotton yarns. The collaboration by these two scientists will benefit from their complementary expertise as well as from the wide range of chemical and manufacturing facilities at the two institutions. The project objectives are of benefit to Egypt and to the US, since they both have strong interest in improving the environmental impact of the textile industry as well as the quality of the products. This proposal meets INT objective of supporting U.S.-foreign collaboration in areas of mutual benefit. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.
