Hydrophobization of the Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers by Incorporating Plant-Derived Hydrophobic Compounds

The cellulosic fiber-based sustainable textile industry needs greener alternatives to the existing hydrophobization approaches—which are essentially based on nonrenewable and expensive hydrophobizing agents adversely impact environment. Herein, we report production of novel hydrophobic cellulose fibers produced by incorporating nature-derived additives—betulin (BE) betulinic acid (BA) using Ioncell technology. incorporation process is simple does not require any additional step during dry-jet wet spinning. Spinning dopes containing up 10 wt % BE BA were spinnable spun (10BE 10BA) maintained their mechanical properties. Compared BE, BA-incorporated fiber showed homogeneous surface morphology suggesting increased compatibility with cellulose. Consequently, in contrast BE-incorporated fibers, demonstrated higher yarn spinnability. Both 10BE 10BA hydrophobicity (water contact angle >90°) nonwovens yarns. In summary, developed a system for man-made via eco-friendly cost-effective way, which has potential scalability industrial applications.