Cold pad-batch bleaching of cotton fabrics with a TAED/H2O2 activating system

The cold pad-batch bleaching of cotton fabrics using a tetra acetyl ethylene diamine/hydrogen peroxide (TAED/H2O2) activating system is investigated in this study. The effects of key bleaching parameters (hydrogen peroxide dosage, sodium hydroxide dosage, TAED/H2O2 mol ratio and batch time) on the bleaching efficiency were investigated by single-factor analysis and orthogonal experiment analysis. The performance of the activator TAED in the cold pad-batch process was examined and the activating mechanism is discussed. The optimised bleaching recipe and processing conditions are reported, and the optimal activated bleaching process is also compared with a conventional cold pad-batch bleaching process. The results show that the optimised TAED/H2O2 activated bleaching system could achieve high quality cotton bleaching with comparable fabric whiteness to the conventional system at much shorter batch times, and with significantly reduced fabric strength loss and decreased alkali consumption, which would be beneficial to sustained development of the textile wet-processing industry.