Influence of activation methods on waste cotton-polyester fabric recycling

In order to better recover cotton component from the waste cotton-polyester blended fabrics,four different activation methods,including sodium hydroxide,sodium hydroxide and ultrasonic treatment,ethylenediamine,and ethylenediamine and ultrasonic treatment,were adopted to activate the blended fabrics to obtain proper methods on the principle of minimizing the impact on polyester and maximizing the solubility of cotton cellulose.The influence of four different activation methods on polyesler mass,mechanical properties and chemical structures of waste cotton-polyester blended fabrics was investigated,and the results revealed that the sodium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide and ultrasonic treatment have less effect on polyester,and can be used to activate the waste cotton-polyester blended fabrics.The further study result of the influence of the two methods above on molecular structure and solubility of cotton fibers showed that sodium hydroxide and ultrasonic treatment is the best suitable way to activate the waste cotton-polyester blended fabrics.