Anti-Felting Treatment of Wool Fabric by Fenton-Like Oxidation System

Abstract

Wool fabric is prone to felting under hot and humid conditions due to the scale layer structure, impairing its appearance and durability. A novel Fenton-like oxidation system for anti-felting treatment of wool fabric was proposed in this study. The composite catalyst, prepared by loading Fe₃O₄ onto chitosan (CS) and hydroxyapatite (HA), denoted as CS/HA/Fe₃O₄, was used to catalyze H₂O₂ to generate free radicals, thereby reducing felting shrinkage by destroying the scale structure of wool fibers. The optimal reaction conditions were determined as CS/HA/Fe₃O₄ 4.5% on mass of fabric (omf), H₂O₂ 30.0% omf, 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) 18.0% omf, and Na₂CO₃ 5.0% omf. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and water contact angle (WCA) characterizations confirmed that the Fenton-like treatment effectively cleaved wool disulfide bonds, stripped surface scales, and reduced hydrophobicity. Preliminary reusability tests of the CS/HA/Fe₃O₄ composite catalyst showed that after three cycles, the felting shrinkage rate of wool fabric slightly increased from 4.0% to 4.7%, which still met the international standard (≤5.0%).

Keywords

wool fabric / surface modification / anti-felting treatment / Fenton-like oxidation

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