Within the field of textile dyeing and finishing auxiliaries, hydrophilic silicone oils are key chemicals for enhancing fabric comfort, with their performance and environmental friendliness receiving increasing attention. Traditional hydrophilic silicone oil formulations often contain isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as a solvent or emulsifying aid, but its volatility, odor, and potential toxicity limit its application in high-end and environmentally stringent sectors. This study focuses on a hydrophilic di-terminal epoxy polyether silicone oil free from isopropyl alcohol, analyzing its molecular structural characteristics, application performance, and versatility as a synthetic platform.

The core chemical feature of this product lies in its precise molecular design. Its molecular segment uses polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the hydrophobic backbone, providing inherent softness and smoothness. At both ends of the PDMS chain, reactive epoxy groups are attached via stable chemical bonds (e.g., Si-C bonds). Simultaneously, hydrophilic polyether segments (typically copolymers of ethylene oxide EO and propylene oxide PO) are introduced into the side chains or segments. The combination of this "di-terminal epoxy" structure and the "polyether hydrophilic" structure forms the basis of its unique properties. Firstly, the terminal epoxy groups confer reactivity, enabling them to undergo ring-opening reactions with functional groups such as hydroxyl (-OH) and amino (-NH2) groups on the fiber surface, thereby anchoring firmly to the fabric via covalent bonds. This imparts excellent durability to the finishing effect, with significantly improved resistance to washing and dry rubbing. Secondly, the hydrophilic polyether segments efficiently bind water molecules through hydrogen bonding, endowing the inherently hydrophobic silicone oil film with persistent and rapid moisture absorption and wicking capabilities, which is key to achieving hydrophilic fabric finishing.

The absence of isopropyl alcohol in this product demonstrates significant advantages in high-end fabric finishing. The elimination of IPA avoids its volatilization during processing and subsequent stages, improves the working environment, reduces VOC emissions, and completely eliminates potential damage or odor issues that solvent residues might cause to sensitive fabrics (such as certain specialty silks or functional fibers). When applied to natural fibers like cotton, linen, silk, wool, and synthetic fibers like polyester and nylon, this silicone oil imparts extremely excellent and durable hydrophilic hand feel. Fabrics finished with it can quickly absorb and spread sweat or moisture, accelerating evaporation, thereby providing the wearer with a dry and comfortable experience. This makes it particularly suitable for sportswear, high-end underwear, towels, and bedding.

From an application process perspective, this product is essentially self-emulsifying. The hydrophilic polyether segments within its molecules act as internal emulsifiers, allowing it to form stable microemulsions or transparent solutions in water through relatively simple mechanical stirring (e.g., medium-speed stirring). This characteristic greatly simplifies the preparation process. Users need not add, or only need to add minimal amounts of, auxiliary emulsifiers to complete the preparation, reducing formulation complexity, improving production efficiency and batch stability, while avoiding issues such as silicone oil floating or roller adhesion caused by improper or excessive use of external emulsifiers.

More importantly, as an efficient chemical synthesis platform, this product offers high extensibility. Its terminal epoxy groups are highly chemically reactive and can undergo ring-opening addition reactions with various organic amines (such as ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine) or more structurally complex polyether amines. By selecting amine compounds with different molecular weights, functionalities (monoamine, diamine, polyamine), and hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) values, a series of block silicone oils with different molecular structures and properties can be purposefully synthesized. For instance, reaction with long-chain alkylamines can enhance the smoothness of the silicone oil; reaction with polyether amines high in EO content can further strengthen hydrophilicity; reaction with amines containing special structures can introduce additional functions like antibacterial or antistatic properties. This flexible chemical modification capability allows users to precisely customize and adjust the hand feel of the final silicone oil product based on the specific requirements of the end fabric (e.g., the crisp feel for synthetic fibers, the full, soft, and smooth feel for cotton), achieving a leap from "one-size-fits-all" to "on-demand customization."

In summary, the hydrophilic di-terminal epoxy polyether silicone oil free from isopropyl alcohol represents a development direction for safer, more environmentally friendly, and high-performance textile finishing chemicals. Its unique molecular structure ensures durable hydrophilicity and softness, its self-emulsifying characteristic simplifies the application process, and its chemical modifiability based on epoxy groups provides broad potential for functional diversification. This product is not only suitable for the current hydrophilic and soft finishing of high-end fabrics, but its potential as a key intermediate will also continue to drive the development of novel, multifunctional textile auxiliaries.