Types of silicone softeners

Silicone softener has been widely used in the textile industry due to its excellent performance in the past several years. With the progress of society and the improvement of the quality of life, the need for fibers and textile products is increasing day by day, which leads to the continuous innovation and development of silicone softeners as fabric finishing materials. The growth of silicone softeners, especially in textiles, has been very high in the last few decades. These softeners give special softness to textile fabrics along with flexibility, adhesiveness, compressibility and elastic recovery. Silicone softener can be deposited on the fiber surface to improve fabric properties. In the textile industry, silicone compounds have been used for a long time as anti-static, lubricants in the fiber weaving process, and anti-foaming and softening compounds in the final stages. Macro silicones are hydrophobic, but compared to micro silicones, they show less durability.

Fabric softeners contain lubricants that help coat and soften fabric fibers when added to laundry. The ingredients in fabric softeners are applied to fabric fibers to help fight wrinkles, reduce static, and add softness and a fresh scent to your clothes. Fabric softeners are another way to protect the integrity of your fabrics by smoothing and conditioning the fibers. Fabric softening ingredients can help fight pilling, fading, and stretching that often occurs as a result of wear and tear.

Silicone is an organometallic polymer obtained from sand, an abundantly available raw material. Silicone is a standard term that describes a special class of synthetic polymers whose main structure is made of oxygen and silicon alternating with organic substituents attached to the silicon. Meanwhile, the methyl group is the most important organic substituent used in silicone softeners commercially. Silicone is a common chemical used in textile processes such as dyeing and polishing. Silicone textile softeners are usually used to increase the softness of fabrics. Silicone textile softeners improve strength, fiber mobility, fabric abrasion resistance, static electricity protection, and soil resistance. These softeners improve the properties of the fabric, including creating a silky soft touch and reducing wrinkles. Silicone softeners are more expensive than some other softeners on the market, however, they exhibit excellent temperature stability and durability. They increase the softness of the fabrics to match the customer's requirement. Population growth, increasing per capita income, along with increasing demand for clothing are some of the factors driving the silicone fabric softener market. In addition, a significant increase in the demand for silicone softeners in the textile industry is due to advances in pretreatment chemicals and chemicals.

Silicone softeners have developed a lot in the past years. Early silicone softeners were produced by mechanical emulsion, called first generation silicone softeners. These silicone softeners did not contain reactive groups to adhere well to fabric fibers and resist washing with water. The second generation silicone softener is a silicone emulsion containing hydroxyl group. Silicone contains a small number of hydroxyl groups and can form a cross-linking network on the fabric surface under the action of a metal catalyst. As a result, it shows a certain resistance to washing with water and stability compared to the first generation products. But there were still shortcomings such as low performance, easy oil floating and emulsification for these products. Since the 1970s, the third generation of silicone softeners has been produced and widely used. Such products increase the reactive groups of silicone by introducing various groups such as amino groups, epoxy groups, carboxyl groups, polyethers and the like into the main chain of siloxane. This type of silicone softener creates strong bonds with fabrics by relying on its active groups. The third generation silicone softener shows a very high resistance to washing with water.

Fabric production in the textile industry puts a lot of mechanical pressure on textiles, especially natural fibers. In this process, the fibers are crushed on the surface of the fabric, which causes the clothes to stiffen when they air dry. In the final wash, a softener is added to the fabric to soften its fibers. To soften a fabric, the surface of the fabric is usually covered with chemical compounds that have an electrical charge. This causes the threads to rise above the surface and create a soft and fluffy texture. Cationic softeners are attached to the negatively charged groups on the surface of the fibers by electrons with negative attraction and neutralize their charge. The long aliphatic chains then move to the outside of the fiber and cause the fabric to soften. Since emollients are often hydrophobic, they usually appear as emulsions. In early formulas, manufacturers used soap as a fortifier. Emulsions are usually opaque milky liquids. However, there are also microemulsions in which the droplets of the hydrophobic phase are small enough. Manufacturers often use a mixture of cationic and non-ionic surfactants as emulsifiers.

Silicon is a very widely used material that is used in all aspects of human life. One of the applications of this material is to use it as a silicone softener, which has been developed so far. The main types of silicone fabric softeners are divided into the following categories according to the functional groups in the chemical structure. These categories are:

This type of silicone softener is mainly dimethyl silicone oil, which is also called polydimethylsiloxane (DMPS) or methyl silicone oil for short. This chemical composition can provide a fabric with softness and better heat resistance. Since its degree of polymerization is not high, it cannot cross-link by itself and react to the fibers. Fabric coated with inactive silicone softener has poor strength and elasticity; Therefore, it cannot be directly used in textile processing. Methyl silicone, as a silicone softener, should be prepared as a silicone oil emulsion under the effect of an emulsifier before being applied to fabrics to increase wash resistance. This type of silicone softener is called the first generation of silicone softeners. The relative molecular mass of silicone oil is usually 70,000-60,000. This type of silicone softener can improve the wear and tear resistance of the fabric.

In this type of silicone softener, mainly two ends of the linear structure of dimethylpolysiloxane (DMPS) are replaced with hydroxyl (-OH) to provide a certain degree of hydrophilicity. The emulsion made of this dimethylpolysiloxane with hydroxyl is called hydroxysilicone emulsion. There are few types of these products that can be used alone as silicone softeners. This silicone conditioner is the most widely used conditioner in the 1980s. This type of silicone softener has a higher molecular mass than inactive silicone softener. The higher the relative molecular mass of an emollient, the better the softness and softness it provides. Emulsion stability of hydroxysilicone softeners is an important indicator to evaluate their quality. Active silicone softener can be combined with other silicone oils or resins to undergo a cross-linking reaction and form a water-insoluble molecular film on the fabric. As a result, the fabric processed with this material has a certain degree of waterproof and washable effect. This type of softener is called the second generation silicone softener and according to the different surfactants used in preparation, it can be divided into ionic, cationic, anionic, non-ionic and composite types.

This type of silicone softener usually contains compounds such as polyether and polysiloxane modified with epoxy. Hydrophilic silicone softener has high hydrophilic properties. This softener is a clear, colorless thick liquid that can give fabrics good moisture absorption, air permeability and anti-static properties. This fabric softener can be easily mixed and used with various additives. Hydrophilic silicone softener is also widely used in the dyeing process in addition to resin finishing and soft polishing. This chemical composition can not only improve the touch feeling of the fabric, but also can improve the performance of the rollers in the textile industry.

This type of silicone softener has other active groups in its silicone molecular chain to have special functions and meet the additional needs of different fabrics. This softener improves the anti-electricity, anti-stain and water-loving properties of the fabric.

The use of amino groups in the polysiloxane macromolecular chain can greatly improve the performance of organosilicone. The introduction of amino groups can not only create better orientation and absorption with fibers and reduce the friction coefficient between fibers, but also can chemically react with epoxy groups, carboxyl groups and hydroxyl groups. . As a result, this type of silicone softener can be applied in the processing of fibers such as cotton, wool, silk and many other synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon and acrylic. The use of this softener in the textile industry can add great softness and flexibility to the products. In general, the higher the amino content of this conditioner, the better softness it provides. But you have to pay attention, the higher amino content can cause yellowing of the fabric. Macro softeners soften all kinds of fabrics, especially fabrics made from synthetic fibers. Macro silicones are made from emulsions with a particle size of 120 nm. Older silicone softeners cannot penetrate the fabric of the thread, so they only stay on the surface.

This softener dissolves easily in water and is mainly used for smoothing and polishing different fibers and fabrics. Micro silicone softener penetrates into the fibers and softens the fabric. This softener creates a good feeling in the fabric. Micro silicone softener needs to be improved in terms of high temperature resistance, high shear resistance, electrolyte resistance and cationic chemical resistance.