Activated peroxide bleaching of regenerated bamboo fiber using a butyrolactam-based cationic bleach activator

Regenerated bamboo fibers are potentially a valuable source of renewable fibers for use in a wide variety of applications. As with almost all natural fibers, inherent yellowness must be reduced or eliminated in order for the fibers to be used effectively in processes such as dyeing. Oxidative bleaching in the form of hot alkaline hydrogen peroxide is the most common method for bleaching cellulosic fibers. However, significant fiber damage results, especially in the case of regenerated bamboo. Recently, more benign oxidative bleaching methods have been developed using so-called bleach activators. Reported is an effective bleaching method using a novel bleach activator, N-[4-(triethylammoniomethyl)benzoyl]butyrolactam chloride (TBBC). The ratio of TBBC to hydrogen peroxide and pH were found to be critical to achieving effective bleaching at low temperature. Using equimolar amounts of TBBC and hydrogen peroxide at pH 7 and 50 °C, comparable whiteness and less fiber damage compared with conventional peroxide bleaching was obtained. However, at pH 11.5, TBBC had no effect on whiteness.