The surface of a carbon fiber is electrochemically treated by a method to form nitrogen containing groups on the surface of the carbon fiber. The method comprises contacting a carbon fiber surface with an aqueous solution comprised of a non-cyclic aliphatic amine and water soluble inorganic hydroxide with said aqueous solution having a pH of at least 9. A positive electrical bias is then applied to the carbon fibers in the aqueous solution relative to another electrode in contact with the aqueous solution, wherein the positive electrical bias is at a voltage above the oxidation potential of water. The treated carbon fibers are useful for making epoxy reinforced carbon fiber composites.

A softening agent composition including (1) a silicone polymer, (2) a water-repellent polymer, (3) an emulsifier, and (4) a liquid medium that is water or a mixture of water and an organic solvent. Also disclosed is a method for producing the softening agent composition which includes producing a water-repellent polymer by polymerizing, in the presence of the silicone polymer, a monomer that constitutes the water-repellent polymer. The water-repellent polymer may be at least one selected from the group consisting of fluorine-containing polymers and non-fluorine-containing polymers. Also disclosed is a method for treating a substrate with the softening agent composition and a substrate treated with the softening agent composition.

The present invention relates to a fiber treatment agent for electron beam fixing that contains an acrylic-modified organopolysiloxane (A) having two or more acrylic groups per molecule, as represented by the following general formula (I).
M.sub.aM.sup.A.sub.bD.sub.cD.sup.A.sub.dT.sub.e  (I) (in the general formula (I), M=R.sup.1R.sup.2R.sup.3SiO.sub.1/2, M.sup.A=R.sup.4R.sup.5R.sup.6SiO.sub.1/2, D=R.sup.7R.sup.8SiO.sub.2/2, D.sup.A=R.sup.9R.sup.10SiO.sub.2/2, T=R.sup.11SiO.sub.3/2, R.sup.1 to R.sup.11 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or a phenyl group, R.sup.4 and R.sup.9 each independently represent a monovalent hydrocarbon group represented by the following general formula (II), a, to d each independently are 0 or a positive integer, e is an integer of 0 to 3, c+d is an integer of 10 to 1000, b+d is an integer of at least 2, and a+b is an integer equal to e+2.) ##STR00001## (in the general formula (II), n is an integer of 1 to 3).

A composition for hydrophilic treatment of fibrous substrates that is washfast in terms of softness contains derivatives of amino-functional organopolysiloxanes containing siloxane units of a general formula (I), optionally siloxane units of a general formula (II), siloxane units of general formula (III), and siloxane units of a general formula (IV). Impurities of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4 cyclics), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5 cyclics) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6 cyclics) are present in proportions of less than 0.1% by weight in each case and after a storage time of 20 days at a temperature of 50° C. the proportions of D4 cyclics, representative of D4, D5 and D6, remain below 0.1% by weight in each case, based in each case on the total weight of the derivatives of amino-functional organopolysiloxanes.

Block-modified polysiloxanes and compositions comprising the block-modified polysiloxanes are useful in the field of textile finishing. Emulsions comprising the compositions have a very small and narrowly distributed particle size which increases penetration, and provide good softening properties coupled with good hydrophilicity.

There is disclosed a method of coating textile fibers, the method comprising applying, on the external surface of textile fibers, a pre-treated oil-in-water emulsion comprising: (i) an aqueous phase containing water; and (ii) a pre-treated oil phase containing at least one reactive condensation-curable film-forming amino-silicone pre-polymer that, subsequent to condensation curing optionally in presence of additional reactants, forms an amino-silicone coat. The pre-treated reactive oil phase includes at least one pre-treated reactant or pre-treated pre-polymer. An aqueous dispersion containing particles of a hydrophilic polymeric material is then applied to the amino-silicone coat, so as to form a polymeric layer thereon. At least one of the oil-in-water emulsion forming a first coat and of the aqueous dispersion forming a second coat may further contain a plurality of sub-micronic pigment particles dispersed therein. Suitable compositions and kits including the same are also disclosed, as well as fibers coated thereby.

An aqueous fabric spray composition, comprising: a. 1-10 w.t. % silicone, wherein the silicone is in the form of an emulsion, the an emulsion having a particle size of 100 to 30 um b. Free perfume, having an emulsion particle size of 1 nm to 30 μm.

Disclosed is a synthetic fiber treatment agent that contains a smoothing agent and a nonionic surfactant. The smoothing agent contains a condensed hydroxy fatty acid formed by condensation from a hydroxy fatty acid having a hydroxy group and a carboxy group in the molecule.

The present invention relates to a coating composition with 10 to 100% by weight of a non-fluorinated compound mixture, which comprises at least one compound b and at least one compound a, c, or d: a) alkali metal salt of poly(meth)acrylic acid, alkali metal salt of poly(meth)acrylic acid copolymer, ammonium compound or amine salt of poly(meth)acrylic acid, ammonium compound or amine salt of poly(meth)acrylic acid copolymer, or mixtures thereof; b) silicone polyether, alkali metal salt of silicone polyether carboxylate, ammonium compound or amine salt of silicone polyether carboxylate, or mixtures thereof; c) salt of hydrolyzed α-olefin/maleic anhydride copolymer, salt of esterified α-olefin/maleic anhydride copolymer, α-olefin/maleic anhydride copolymer amic acid resin or salt thereof, or mixtures thereof; or d) polycarboxylate calcium sequestrants or mixtures thereof. Such coatings exhibit improved soil and stain cleaning performance.

An aqueous liquid of a carbon fiber precursor treatment agent contains a carbon fiber precursor treatment agent and water, the carbon fiber precursor treatment agent containing an amino-modified silicone and a particular nonionic surfactant having a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of from 1.05 to 1.50. The amino-modified silicone may have a kinematic viscosity at 25° C. of 50 to 4,000 mm.sup.2/s. The carbon fiber precursor treatment agent is adhered to a carbon fiber precursor.