New aroma chemical applications: Fabric Care

Understanding the factors that infl uence retention and release of aroma chemicals from textiles is important for development of consumer products for fabric care applications. Olfactometry, as well as gas chromatographic, techniques have been extensively used to investigate the deposition of aroma chemicals on fabrics and to evaluate their performance in consumer products. However, the distributions of aroma chemicals within the textiles are less well defi ned. Electron microscopy techniques have been used to study the distribution of chemical fi nishing agents and soils on fi bers and within yarns. Studies show that the penetration and distribution of these materials can be understood in terms of the chemical and physical properties of the textile.

This study focused on defi ning the distribution of osmium-tagged aroma chemicals on and within the fi ber structures using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis. Our overall goal was to understand mechanisms of deposition, adsorption, and retention based on aroma chemical properties (such as vapor pressure and surface tension) and textile characteristics (such as morphology, capillary structure and fi ber chemistry).

Experimental Methods Fabrics: Bleached cotton print cloth style 400 and polyester (100 percent Dacron, type 54, style 777) were purchased from Testfabrics Inc., West Pittston, PA. Lyocell (Tencel chambray) was obtained from Courtaulds Inc., Axis, AL. Prior to use, all three fabrics were rinsed in running tap water for 1 h, followed by Soxhlet extraction with ethanol for 24 h. The fabrics were then air-dried at 23°C and conditioned at 65 ± 2 percent relative humidity for at least 24 h.

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