Bleached crosslinked cellulosic fibers with high color and brightness

Abstract

Cellulose fibers are crosslinked with a crosslinking agent in the presence of a polyol, the cured fibers are then treated with a bleaching agent to give crosslinked fibers with high color and brightness.

1 . Bleached crosslinked fibers, comprising cellulose fibers reacted with an effective amount of a crosslinking agent in the presence of an effective amount of a C 4 -C 12  polyol and bleached with a bleaching agent, said bleached crosslinked fibers having a Whiteness Index greater than crosslinked cellulose fibers comprising cellulosic fibers reacted with an effective amount of a crosslinking agent in the presence of an effective amount of a C 4 -C 12  polyol without bleaching.  
   
   
       2 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking agent is an α-hydroxypolycarboxylic acid.  
   
   
       3 . The fibers of  claim 2 , wherein the α-hydroxypolycarboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, tartronic acid, α-hydroxyglutaric acid, and citramalic acid and mixtures thereof.  
   
   
       4 . The fibers of  claim 3 , wherein the crosslinking agent is citric acid.  
   
   
       5 . The fibers of  claim 3 , wherein the crosslinking agent is malic acid.  
   
   
       6 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the polyol is selected from the group consisting of acyclic polyols, alicyclic polyols, and heterosides and mixtures thereof.  
   
   
       7 . The fibers of  claim 6 , wherein the acyclic polyol is selected from the group consisting of erythritol, xylitol, arabitol, ribitol, sorbitol, mannitol, perseitol, and volemitol and mixtures thereof.  
   
   
       8 . The fibers of  claim 7 , wherein the acyclic polyol is sorbitol.  
   
   
       9 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the bleaching agent comprises hydrogen peroxide.  
   
   
       10 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the bleaching agent comprises hydrogen peroxide in combination with sodium hydroxide.  
   
   
       11 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the Whiteness Index is about 1 or more units greater than crosslinked cellulosic fibers comprising cellulosic fibers reacted with an effective amount of a crosslinking agent in the presence of an effective amount of a C 4 -C 12  polyol without bleaching.  
   
   
       12 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the brightness is greater than about 80.  
   
   
       13 . The fibers of  claim 1 , wherein the wet bulk is about 15.5 cc/g or greater.  
   
   
       14 . An absorbent product comprising the fibers of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       15 . The product of  claim 14 , wherein the product is an infant diaper, adult incontinence product, or feminine hygiene product.  
   
   
       16 . The product of  claim 14 , wherein the product is a tissue or towel.