Production of alkali-soluble cellulosic textile materials by the aluminum nitrate treatment of partially etherified cottons and the oxidation of cellulose with aluminum nitrate

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING AN ALKALI-SOLUBLE CELLULOSIC TEXTILE THAT SUBSTANTIALLY RETAINS ITS TEXTILE PROPERTIES WHICH COMPRISES PARTIALLY ETHERIFYING COTTON TEXTILE TO A DEGREE OF SUBSTITUTION OF FROM ABOUT 0.04 TO ABOUT 0.40 ETHER GROUPS PER ANHYDROGLUCOSE UNIT, SAID ETHER GROUP BEING A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF CARBOXYETHYL, CARBOXYMETHYL, HYDROXYETHYL, METHYL, PHOSPHONOMETHYL, ETHYL, ALPHA-METHYLCARBOXYMETHYL, AMINOETHYL, CARBAMOYLETHYL AND SULFOETHYL, AND OXIDIZING SAID PARTIALLY ETHERIFIED COTTON TEXTILE BY IMPREGNATING IT TO ABOUT 100% PICKUP WITH AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF ALUMINUM NITRATE HAVING A CONCENTRATION FROM ABOUT ONE WEIGHT PERCENT TO A SATURATED SOLUTION, AND DRY HEAT TREATING THE ALUMINUM NITRATE IMPREGNATED PARTIALLY ETHERIFIED COTTON TEXTILE AT A TEMPERATURE OF FROM ABOUT 120* TO ABOUT 160*C. FOR FROM ABOUT ONE TO ABOUT FIVE MINUTES, THE TIME AND TEMPERATURE OF THE HEAT TREATMENT BEING INVERSELY RELATED, TO DRY SAID ETHERIFIED COTTON TEXTILE AND DECOMPOSE THE ALUMINUM NITRATE.