2.

4 Mercerization of cotton
 MERCERIZATION DISCOVERY
• John Mercer 1791-1866 British Chemist
• Experiment on measurement of viscosity of solutions
of different concentrations.
• Tried to filter the solution of NaOH 45-55 deg. TW (Unit
of viscosity, approx. twice the % conc.) through cotton
fabric
What did he Observed?
• Shrinkage in the area of fabric i.e. reduction in
dimensions of fabric in width and length direction.
Mercerization of cotton
1850 patented process under the name Mercerization
Claims:
 Shrinkage in the area of cloth
 Increase in strength
 Increase in hygroscopicity
 Preferential absorption of NaOH
 Increased action at lower temperature
 Possible soda cellulose formation

These basic claims are valid even today

Mercerization of cotton
Maindrawback: Fabric shrinkage
Commercial loss:

Decrease in length and width of fabrics

No body showed commercial interest
Process did not become commercial till the
deathof Mercer in 1866
 OVERCOMING THE PROBLEM OF SHRINKAGE

THE PROBLEM OF SHRINKAGE WAS OVERCOME SUBSEQUENTLY BY

HORACE LOWE (BRITISH CHEMIST) BY APPLICATION OF TENSION DURING
TREATMENT WITH CAUSTIC SODA

THE PROCESS WAS FURTHER IMPROVED BY GERMAN CHEMISTS

THOMAS AND PREVOST (GERMAN CHEMISTs) DURING CAUSTIC SODA
TREATMENT AS WELL AS DURING WASHING FOR THE REMOVAL OF
CAUSTIC SODA FROM COTTON

THE PROCESS THEN BECAME COMMERCIALLY ACCEPTABLE

THE PROCESS IS USED ON COMMERCIAL SCALE SINCE 1895 FOR THE

MERCERIZATION OF COTTON YARN AND FABRIC.

EVEN AFTER MORE THAN 100 YEARS THE PROCESS IS STILL POPULAR
BECAUSE OF ITS SIMPLICITY AND SEVERAL BENEFITS.
 MERCERIZING CONDITIONS

IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE TOP QUALITY MERCERISING RESULTS, THE

FOLLOWING OPTIMUM CONDITIONS ARE NOW BEING OBSERVED:

STRENGTH OF MERCERISING LYE : 48 TO 52°Tw (22-24%) IT CAN BE AS HIGH

AS 55-60°Tw (25-28%)

( Tw is the measure of concentration and it is equal to slightly less than half

% Conc.)

TIME OF IMPREGNATION : 45 TO 60 SECONDS

TEMPERATURE OF CAUSTIC SODA : 15° TO 18°C

BETTER MERCERIZING RESULTS ARE OBTAINED BY TREATMENT AT LOW

TEMP.
 PROCESS

TREATMENT OF COTTON (YARN/FABRIC) WITH CAUSTIC

SODA SOLUTION (55-60OTW) AT 15-18OC, 45-60 SEC.

WARP TENSION DURING ALKALI TREATMENT AND

WIDTHWISE STRETCHING DURING WASHING NECESSARY TO
PREVENT SHRINKAGE
WASHING OFF ALKALI WHILE YARN/FABRIC IS HELD
UNDER TENSION
CAN BE CARRIED OUT ON GREY, SCOURED OR BLEACHED
STATE. SCOURED STATE IS PREFERRED
IN CASE OF GREY MERCERIZATION COMPLETE ALKALI
REMOVAL BEFORE SCOURING NOT ESSENTIAL.
SINGEING BEFORE MERCERIZATION PRODUCE SMOOTH
SURFACE IS RECOMMENDED
 EFFECT OF NaOH
CONCENTRATION

Behaviour of cotton fibre (Microscopic study, Longitudinal

view)
NaOH Conc.
 Upto 15 deg. Tw No change
 16-18 deg. Tw Incomplete untwisting
 26 [Link] Rapid untwisting
 35 deg. Tw Un twisting followed
by swelling
 40 deg Tw and aboveUntwisting and
swelling together
Removal of convolutions
Circular cross section
 LONGITUDINAL VIEW 18% NaOH = approx. 400 Tw

During NaoH treatment On washing and drying

0% 18%

Changes in cross section with increase in

NaOH concentration
Mercerized
Bean shape cross section becomes
Un mercerized Minimum circular at 18% NaOH conc.
18% NaOH Theoretically 18% pure caustic soda gives
mercerization effect. However, caustic
Convoluted view becomes soda used on industrial scale contains
cylindrical At 18% NaOH conc. impurities. Therefore, 22-28% caustic soda
is used in industry
 SWELLING IN DIFFERENT ALKALINE
SOLUTIONS

% swelling %Alkali

97 9.5 LiOH

78 18 NaOH

64 32 KOH

53 40 RbOH

NaOH is preferred because it is cheap and readily manufactured

compared to other alkalies
 Mercerization Physical changes in
cotton
 INCREASE IN MOISTURE ABSORPTION AND DYE UPTAKE
Effect of strong caustic soda

 Fibre swelling due to Breaking of H-bonds

 Opening of fibre structure
 Swelling not only in amorphous region but in the intra-
crystalline region i.e. surface of crystalline region.
 Due breaking of H-bonds in intra-crystalline region the
the amorphous content of mercerized cotton increases
 On removal of caustic soda by washing and on drying
H-bonds are re-formed
 However, re-formation of H-bonds in the intra-crystalline
region do not take place to the same extent as originally
present as a result of this some free –OH are available in
mercerised cotton
• It is estimated that Additional free -OH groups available in
mercerized cotton are Approx 25% higher than unmercerized
cotton. Thus there is
• Increase in amorphous content
• Increase in number of -OH groups
• Both these factors responsible for higher moisture content,
increased dye uptake and increased reactivity
• Amorphous content is more in slack (Without tension)
mercerization compared to tension mercerization
•Standard cotton has moisture content of about 7-8%,
mercerized cotton with tension has about 9% and that of without
tension about 11%.
 INCREASED DYE ADSORPTION
MERCERIZED COTTON SHOWS INCREASED DEPTH OF SHADE, INCREASED RATE
OF DYEING
THE IRREGULARITIES DUE TO NEPS AND UNRIPE COTTON ARE LESS
PROMINENT.

THE MAGNITUDE OF INCREASED DEPTH OF SHADE VARIES FOR DIFFERENT

DYESTUFFS.
THE INCREASED DEPTH OF SHADE OF MERCERIZED COTTON HAS BEEN
ATTRIBUTED TO
INCREASES IN DYE UPTAKE DUE TO INCREASED AMORPHOUS PART OF THE
FIBRE OR INCREASE IN THE AVAILABILITY OF OH GROUPS FOR DYE-FIBRE
INTERACTION AND OPTICAL EFFECT OF INCREASED LUSTURE

MERCERIZATION THUS LOWERS THE DYEING COST AS LESS QUANTITY OF DYE

REQUIRED TO GET SAME SHADE COMPARED TO UNMERCERIZED COTTON

THE INCREASE IN DYE UPTAKE CAN BE AS HIGH AS 20-30%

 REMOVAL OF IMMATURE COTTON

MERCERIZATION HAS BEEN RECOGNISED AS A METHOD FOR REMOVING IMMATURE

(DEAD) FIBRES TO OBTAIN LEVEL DYEING EFFECT ON COTTON FABRICS.

THE DEAD FIBRES ARE UNDERDEVELOPED COTTON FIBBRES AND APPEAR AS FLAT OR
SLIGHTLY TWISTED TAPES.

THE DEAD COTTON TAKE LESS DYE THAN MATURED COTTON AND APPEAR AS LIGHT
COLOUR SPOTS ON THE FABRIC SURFACE.

REMOVAL OF DEAD COTTON DURING MERCERIZATION GIVES MORE UNIFORM

APPEARANCE OF DYED FABRIC.
 Increase in Tensile strength
• Removal of convolutions removes the weak spots at the point of reversal.
• Alignment of fibres in the new configuration after treatment with caustic soda
• Fibres are more parallel and compact due to removal of convolutions
• Parallelization and compactness of fibres is much better on application of
tension. The parallelization of fibres means that the applied load during
tensile strength measurement is shared uniformly by fibres resulting in
increase higher strength compared to unmercerized cotton.
• Improvement in strength is much higher in case of tension mercerization
compared to slack mercerization.
• Mercerization increases the cohesion between individual cotton hairs and this
closer embedding of the hairs in the yarn increases the strength
• Compared to fabric, yarn shows better improvement of strength because in
case of fabric the caustic soda penetration is more difficult compared to yarn.
 INCREASE IN LUSTURE
INCREASE IN LUSTURE OF COTTON YARN OR FABRIC ON
MERCERIZATION IS ATTRIBUTED TO Before mercerization
CHANGE IN CROSS SECTION FROM BEAN SHAPE TO
MORE CIRCULAR
CHANGE ON LONGITUDINAL VIEW FROM CONVOLUTED
TO CYLINDRICAL
SHRINKAGE OF PROTRUDING FIBRES AND IMBEDDING
THEM INTO YARN STRUCTURE After mercerization
THE EFFECT OF ABOVE CHANGES IS MORE UNIFORM
REFLECTION OF LIGHT FROM THE YARN OR FABRIC
SURFACE MAKING IT LUSTROUS.
THE IMPROVEMENT IN LUSTRE IS MORE WHEN
MERCERIZATION IS CARRIED OUT UNDER TENSION
IMPROVEMENT IN LUSTURE IN YARN IS BETTER
COMPARED TO FABRIC DUE TO EASE OF PENETRATION
OF NaOH
 Mercerization process

Yarn mercerization
 Hank mercerization
 Warp mercerization
 Single thread mercerization (Liquid ammonia treatment)

Fabric mercerization (Open width only)

 Woven fabric
 Knitted fabric
 FABRIC MERCERIZATION
MERCERIZATION STAGE

MERCERIZATION CAN BE CARRIED OUT AT

GREY FABRIC
SCOURED FABRIC
BLEACHED FABRIC.

GREY MERCERIZATION:

GREY MERCRIZATION IS CARRIED OUT IN CASE OF LIGHT WEIGHT FINE FABRIC

WHOSE GSM IS LOW.

SUCH FABRICS IN THE GREY FORM ARE ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE TENSION APPLIED
IN WIDTH DIRECTION ON THE STENTER FRAME DURING STRETCHING

IN THE SCOURED OR BLEACHED FORM THERE IS DANGER OF TEARING OF FINE

FABRIC DURING WIDTHWISE STRETCHING

DRAWBACKS
POOR FABRIC WETTING. ADDITION OF WETTING AGENT ESSENTIAL
CONTAMINATION OF CAUSTIC SODA DUE TO REMOVAL OF STARCH SIZE
 SCOURED MERCERIZATION

THIS IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE STAGE BECAUSE OF THE ABORBANCY OF THE

FABRIC THE WETTING OF FABRIC WITH HIGH CONCENTRATION OF CAUSTIC SODA
AND ITS SUBSEQUENT PENETRATION IS BETTER

THE RESULTS OF MERCERIZATION ARE THEREFORE MUCH BETTER

IN GREY MERCERIZATION THE WETTING IS POOR THEREFORE IT IS ESSENTIAL TO

ADD AN EFFICIENT WETTING AGENT KNOW AS MERCERIZING WETTING AGENT IN
CAUSTIC SODA TO ACHIEVE WETTING OF GREY FABRIC.

ALSO IN CASE OF GREY MERCERIZATION THERE IS RISK OF CONTAMINATION OF

CAUSTIC SODA DUE TO STARCH WHICH MAY BE DEGRADED BY HIGH
CONCENTRATION OF CAUSTIC SODA.

SUCH CONTAMINATED CAUSTIC SODA CAN NOT BE RECYCLED AND REUSED.

THEREFORE THERE IS LOSS OF CAUSTIC SODA INCREASING THE COST OF

MERCERIZATION
FOR THESE REASONS MERCERIZATION AFTER SCOURING IS PREFERRED
 MERCERIZATION OF BLEACHED FABRIC

MERCERIZATION AFTER BLEACHING THOUGH EFFICIENT IS NOT

RECOMMENDED

BECAUSE THERE IS DEPOSITION OF IMPURITIES FROM CAUSTIC SODA DURING

MERCERIZATION AFFECTING THE WHITENESS OF THE FABRIC.

IN SUCH CASE THE FABRIC HAS TO BE SUBJECTED TO MILD BLEACHING PROCESS

AGAIN.
FABRIC MERCERIZATION
MACHINES

PAD-CHAIN

PAD-CHAINLESS

PADLESS-CHAINLESS
 DETERMINATION OF DEGREE OF
MERCERIZATION

1. DECONVOLUTION COUNT

2. DYEING TEST

3. SODIUM HYDROXIDE SPOTTONG TEST

4. BARIUM ACTIVITY NUMBER