Physical properties and dyeability of silk fibers modified with ethoxyethylmethacrylate polymer

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Abstract
The structural characteristics, physical properties, and dyeing behavior of Bombyx mori silk fibers containing ethoxyethylmethacrylate (ETMA) polymer are reported in relation to the add‐on. The add‐on value increased with the reaction time and attained a maximum after 60 min at 80°C. The surface of silk fibers with an add‐on value of 40% showed the presence of several irregular granules, consisting of ETMA oligomers. The infrared spectrum of the silk fibers containing the ETMA polymer showed overlapped absorption bands due to the molecular conformation of untreated silk and ETMA polymer, giving evidence that the ETMA polymerization occurred inside the fiber matrix. The DSC results suggested that the thermal decomposition behavior of the silk fiber remained almost unchanged, except that the decomposition temperature shifted slightly to higher temperature. The tensile properties of the silk fiber remained unchanged regardless of the ETMA polymerization. The rate and extent of acid dye uptake was greatly increased by the polymerization of ETMA into the silk fibers as well as the transfer printing properties.