Single‐phase ink‐jet printing onto cotton fabric

The current commercial application of ink‐jet reactive inks to cotton fabrics requires pretreating with pad liquor containing a thickener, urea and alkali prior to printing. In this study, attempts have been made to develop a reactive ink‐jet print in a single‐phase process by adding an organic salt to the ink formulation and hence removing the need to pretreat fabrics. This approach utilises inks containing both a reactive dye, in this case Procion Red H‐E3B, and an organic salt such as sodium formate, sodium acetate, sodium propionate or tri‐sodium citrate. The behaviour of a novel reactive ink formulation for ink‐jet printing on to cotton fabric was evaluated at different pH vlaues. The results at optimum pH indicated that printed non‐pretreated fabrics with ink containing organic salts exhibited a higher level of reactive dye fixation than printed pretreated fabric containing no organic salt ink. The yielded prints demonstrate excellent colour fastness to washing and dry/wet crocking properties. The light fastness of the printed fabrics was improved by adding an organic salt to the ink formulation.     

A custom ink‐jet printing system using a novel pretreatment method

A low‐cost and environmental‐friendly direct dye‐based ink‐jet printing system was developed. A novel ink‐jet pretreatment method was employed, in which the cationic fixing agent, Matexil FC‐ER, was applied as the colourless fixing ink and applied only on image areas of the fabric by ink‐jet printer. It was found that this new pretreatment method could more effectively enhance the colour strength and improve the wash fastness (greyscale ≥ 3) when compared with traditional exhaust application. The cross‐staining of non‐image areas of fabric was also apparently decreased using this new method. The light fastness of ink‐jet pretreated samples was slightly reduced as the presence of Matexil FC‐ER made dyes more sensitive to light.     

Ink‐jet printing of cotton with natural dyes

Four natural dyes, annatto, cutch, pomegranate fruit rind, and golden dock, were used as colorants for the preparation of water‐based ink‐jet inks for digital textile printing. The physical and rheological properties (pH, conductivity, surface tension, and viscosity) of the inks were measured over a period of 90 days for the evaluation of ink stability and suitability for ink‐jet printing. The inks were found to be suitable and were used for the digital printing of cotton fabrics. The prints were subjected to wash, light, and rub fastness tests and colour measurements. Colour consistency and fastness results, especially after fixation, are comparable with those of synthetic dyes, which paves the way for the production of environmentally friendly ink‐jet inks using natural dyes for the digital printing of cotton through the formulation of suitable printing techniques.     

Properties of ink‐jet printed,ultraviolet‐cured pigment prints in comparison with screen‐printed,thermo‐cured pigment prints

A collection of printed fabrics for men’s shirts was designed and prepared using computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing technology. The colours for designs were ink‐jet printed on cotton fabrics with pigments and ultraviolet‐cured. These prints represented the target colours for subsequent flat‐screen printing, which was performed using pigment printing pastes and thermal curing. For an exact transfer of colours of the ink‐jet‐printed standard into the screen‐printing process, a computer recipe prediction method was used. A comparison of colorimetric parameters of fabrics printed with both printing techniques shows minimal and acceptable differences in the CIELab colour values. A comparison of colour fastness properties proves that very good colour fastness is achieved on the pigment‐printed fabrics produced with both printing techniques. The flat‐screen‐printed fabrics show better colour fastness to washing, perspiration and rubbing, while ink‐jet‐printed fabrics show better colour fastness to dry‐cleaning and light. The fabrics printed with both printing techniques have high rigidity and non‐elastic properties. The mechanical and physical parameters are strongly dependent upon the amount of the dry substance of the printing media applied on the cotton fabric surface, which is higher on screen‐printed fabrics. The ink‐jet‐printed fabrics show better air permeability than flat‐screen‐printed fabrics.     

The influence of ink viscosity,water and fabric construction on the quality of ink‐jet printed polyester

This paper is concerned with the quality of lines and disperse ink in printing patterns on different untreated polyester fabric constructions. The lines running in the weft and warp directions were printed on polyester fabric constructions, and printing accuracy was assessed. Ink spreading is one of the important factors that influences the ink distribution. Thus, in order to acquire satisfactory ink‐jet printing products, it is essential to control the spreading of ink on the polyester fabric. To meet these conditions, a series of chemicals (disperse dye 5.01 wt%, PVP‐K30 0‐2 wt%, DEG 5‐20 wt%, water 64.17‐79.17 wt%, etc) with different mass fractions was used to prepare disperse ink. The jetting behaviour of ink was related to its surface tension and viscosity, which was characterised by an automatic surface tensiometer and rotational viscometer. Line profile was used to evaluate the printing effect. Low field nuclear magnetic resonance and three‐dimensional super depth digital microscopy were used to reveal the relationships between the state of water, ink diffusion behaviour and printing sharpness. The results showed that increasing ink viscosity or decreasing free water content is advantageous to improve the sharpness of the printing pattern. The effects of fabric structural parameters on line image quality are discussed. The printing quality was closely related to the weight and structure of fabric. The heavy weight fabrics had accurate print pattern sharpness. The fastness test results showed that the ink printing pattern had good colour fastness.     

Disperse ink‐jet inks: properties and application to polyester fibre

Water‐based ink‐jet inks were prepared using press cake samples of two commercially available azo disperse dyes. The suitability of the inks for printing polyester fabric was evaluated via measurement of surface tension, conductivity, viscosity, pH and particle size distribution. Inks prepared by the proposed method fulfill most requirements for an ink‐jet ink depending on the colorant structure, the dispersing agent and the alcohol used. The inks were applied to polyester fabric by both printing and dyeing and the fastness of the ensuing coloured samples was assessed. The fastness properties of the dyed and printed polyester samples were found to be very good to excellent and generally meet accepted customer requirements. Oil‐in‐water microemulsions containing the same colorants were also prepared. Their properties, which are crucial to the suitability for ink‐jet ink, were compared with those of the conventionally prepared inks and were found to be improved, with the exception of conductivity, while surface tension remained within acceptable values.     

Digital and conventional printing and dyeing with the natural dye annatto: optimisation and standardisation processes to meet future demands

The plant colorant annatto was investigated to determine its potential use as a natural dye for conventional and novel textile applications. Alum was selected as a mordant. Different techniques of mordanting and a broad set of variations in the dyeing recipes were applied to achieve optimisation and an improvement in colour fastness properties. Quality control of all dyeings was performed using standard fastness tests and colour measurements. Printing of cotton fabrics was also achieved with annatto using the flatbed screen‐printing technique. Measurement of the rheological and physical properties of the annatto printing paste confirmed its stability and suitability for conventional printing. Fastness properties of the conventionally printed annatto fabric were also measured. A novel water‐based digital printing ink using annatto was prepared and applied to cotton fabric using a digital printing application. The physical properties of the annatto ink‐jet ink were also measured. Wash, light and rub fastness properties of the annatto digitally printed fabric were determined and compared with those of conventional printing methods. The results were promising for annatto as a natural colorant, which possibly paves the way for the development of a new range of natural environmentally friendly dyes.     

Green synthesis of reactive dye for ink‐jet printing

Chloropyrimidine‐based reactive dyes are reported as well suited to textile printing; however, nucleophilic aromatic substitution of chloropyrimidines with amino‐containing chromophores is slow and often suffers from poor yields. In this study, a novel and simple method was developed for the synthesis of chloropyrimidine‐based reactive dye under microwave irradiation. In addition, the dye was also synthesised by conventional heating for comparison, which took both the reaction time and yield into account. The progress of the synthesis reactions concerned were monitored using capillary electrophoresis and the purity of the dye obtained was assessed by thin‐layer chromatography. The structure of the synthesised trichloropyrimidine dye was confirmed by Fourier Transform–infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. It was found that the reaction rate of the nucleophilic aromatic substitution carried out under microwave irradiation was 4‐fold faster than that carried out under conventional heating, although the enhancement in product yield was modest. These results suggest that microwave irradiation is an effective technique for the synthesis of chloropyrimidine‐based reactive dyes. The synthesised chloropyrimidine dye was formulated into an ink and applied onto a wool fabric by ink‐jet printing. The printed fabrics were steamed at 102°C for 5‐25 minutes at 5‐minute intervals. Good K/S and rate of dye fixation were obtained, both of which improved with increasing steaming time. The prints obtained exhibited reasonably good light and wash fastness properties.     

Digital alkali resist prints on polyester

In earlier papers we have described sulphite‐based and secondary amine‐based resist printing of cotton using ink‐jet procedures. This paper describes the chemical resist printing of polyester fabrics padded with disperse dyes to create a white image on a coloured background. Polyester grounds have been prepared by the pad‐dry ‘dyeing’ of polyester fabrics with alkali‐clearable disperse dyes, such as a Dianix PC (DyStar) or a Dianix SF (DyStar) dye, and subsequently ink‐jet printed with sodium carbonate based ink formulations to yield a white image on a solid ground following high temperature steaming and appropriate wash‐off procedures. Coloured images have been achieved by a two‐step process whereby the coloured ground fabric was initially printed with an alkali‐based ink and then overprinted in a second step with an illuminating ink formulation containing an alkali stable disperse dye, such as a Dianix AD (DyStar) or Serilene ADS (Yorkshire Chemicals).     

Pretreatment of silk fabric surface with amino compounds for ink jet printing

This research studied pretreatments of silk fabric with amino compounds for ink jet printing. The pre-treating solutions were serine, glycine, aspartic acid, sericin, chitosan, and a commercial pre-treating chemical called Sanfix 555. Both untreated and treated fabrics were printed with in-house formulated pigmented inks and later steamed to fix the ink on the fabric surface. The pretreatments containing the amino compounds improved hydrophilicity of the silk fabric with the exception of chitosan. The color gamut from sericin, chitosan, and Sanfix 555 pretreatments was wider than that from the amino acid pretreatments. The chroma of the cyan color was most improved. The fabric, after pretreatment with sericin, showed a significant improvement in dry crock fastness while wet crock fastness was improved by serine and glycine. The chitosan slightly improved both dry and wet crock fastness. Wash fastness of all pretreated and printed fabrics including untreated and the printed fabrics was excellent because the pigmented ink was formulated with pigment and binder. Bending stiffness of the silk fabrics after chitosan pretreatment was significantly higher than those with other pretreatments. The ink penetration in sericin and chitosan padded layers was shallower than those for amino acids, enhancing ink deposition on the fabric surface. The amino compound pretreatments held and fixed additional ink on the fabric surfaces resulting in a wider color gamut of the inks.     

Synthesis,stability and printing properties of a novel 2‐sulphophenoxy‐4‐chloro‐s‐triazine reactive dye for ink‐jet printing of wool

We report here the synthesis and characterisation of a new medium‐reactivity reactive dye containing 2‐sulphophenoxy‐4‐chloro‐s‐triazine, having enhanced the activity of the chlorine atom for further substitution by the functional groups carried by wool fibre. In addition, a dichloro‐s‐triazine dye was also synthesised for the purpose of comparison. The progress of synthesis reactions and purity of the dyes were determined using capillary electrophoresis and thin layer chromatography. The molecular structure and the chemical compositions of the synthesised dyes were confirmed using Fourier Transform–infrared spectral data and elemental analyses. The inks containing the synthesised dyes were formulated and ink‐jet‐printed onto wool fabrics and then the printed fabrics were steamed at 102°C. Compared with the dichloro‐s‐triazine dye, superior performance in terms of ink stability, K/S and dye fixation was observed for the new 2‐sulphophenoxy‐4‐chloro‐s‐triazine dye. In addition, the light fastness of the fabric printed with the inks containing the new dye was 0.5‐grade greater than that of the fabric printed with the inks containing the dichloro‐s‐triazine dye, and no changes in shade and staining were observed following wash fastness tests of the fabrics printed with the inks containing the new dye.     

Use of a biomaterial as a thickener for textile ink‐jet printing

The feasibility of using chitosan as a thickener in the pretreatment print paste for textile ink‐jet printing was explored. An orthogonal analysis was used to determine the optimum conditions for using chitosan as a thickener in the pretreatment print paste and the effects of different process factors for achieving the best color yield in textile ink‐jet printing. With the help of the orthogonal analysis, the importance of different process factors was found to be in the order of (1) the amount of urea used, (2) the amount of chitosan used, (3) the amount of sodium bicarbonate used, and (4) the steaming time. On the basis of the results of the orthogonal analysis, the optimum conditions for using chitosan as a thickener for the pretreatment print paste were concluded to be 40 mL of chitosan, 10 g of urea, 8 g of sodium bicarbonate, and 5 min of steaming. According to an analysis of the results of different color fastness tests, chitosan could principally work as a pretreatment print paste thickener. However, the final color yield obtained from chitosan‐containing cotton fabrics depended greatly on the stage of the chitosan application. Nevertheless, the color fastness properties and the outline sharpness of the prints of cotton fabric were greatly improved by the chitosan treatment. A two‐bath chitosan treatment was developed to separate the chitosan from sodium bicarbonate and urea before it was padded onto the fabric surface to minimize the neutralization effect. On the basis of the results for the highest color yield obtained on the cotton fabric, it was confirmed that the two‐bath chitosan treatment was successfully developed. In addition, chitosan could impart higher antibacterial properties with a slight reduction in the tensile strength of the cotton fabric. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Syntheses of polymeric dispersants for pigmented ink‐jet inks

Drop‐on‐demand ink‐jet inks made from dyes usually show poor light fastness and poor water fastness. Therefore, many researchers have introduced pigments into ink‐jet inks to overcome the defects of dye‐based ink. Pigmented ink needs sophisticated technology which disperses the pigments stably in low viscosity. Thus, adequate dispersants are essential to achieve stable dispersions of pigments for ink‐jet inks. This study describes syntheses of dispersants, properties of formulations and comparisons of performance with an existing ink to assess their suitability for commercial application.     

Photorealistic ink‐jet digital printing – factors influencing image quality,image stability and print durability

Digital cameras have now replaced film‐based cameras as the most popular method of still image capture. As a consequence, there has been a rise in growth of the photo‐realistic digital‐printer market as many amateur and professional photographers choose to produce their own hard copy images. The most popular digital printing technology for producing photo‐realistic images is currently drop‐on‐demand ink jet. There has been much research into key factors influencing the quality, stability and durability of images produced using this, and other, digital printing technologies. A key area of study in achieving photo‐realistic images from digital printing systems has been ink‐receivable layers and dye/pigment colorants, and most importantly compatibility between the two. As with any new technology it is important to achieve an acceptable standard of performance and, to this end, research work has been instigated by the International Standards Institute since the mid‐1990s, to achieve a set of standards appertaining to areas such as light fastness, water fastness, thermal stability, humidity fastness and pollution susceptibility. This paper reviews the current state regarding the aforementioned areas with respect to their influence on print quality, stability and durability.     

Ink‐jet printing process for lyocell and cotton fibres. Part 2: The relationship of colour strength and dye fixation to ink penetration

The colour appearance on ink‐jet printed textiles is influenced by a range of factors, including the chemical and physical nature of the fibre, dye–fibre affinity, pretreatment and fabric structure. Regression analyses were conducted to study the correlation between colour strength, fixation and ink penetration obtained by ink‐jet printing lyocell fibres (standard Tencel and Tencel A100) and cotton with an ink based on a monofunctional reactive red dye. The fixation was highest on Tencel A100, followed by standard Tencel and then cotton, while colour strength was highest on standard Tencel followed by cotton and Tencel A100. A linear relationship between colour strength and ink penetration was found with cotton, indicating greater dependence of depth of shade on ink penetration than on standard Tencel and Tencel A100 fabrics, where the interrelationships were more complex, but of low statistical significance. A schematic representation is proposed illustrating the mechanism of ink penetration into pretreated fibres, which provides a reasonable interpretation of the events occurring as dye penetrates into and fixes onto the fibres.     

十二烷基硫酸钠对亚麻织物喷墨印花性能的影响

为提高亚麻织物的喷墨印花颜色效果,将十二烷基硫酸钠（SDS）与海藻酸钠（SA）协同作用于亚麻织物的预处理工艺,对处理后织物表面墨滴的铺展面积、喷墨印花色块的颜色参数进行了测试,使用接触角测量仪、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、固体表面zeta电位仪、X射线光电子能谱仪（XPS）和傅里叶变换红外光谱仪（FTIR）对预处理前后亚麻织物表面物理和化学性能进行了表征。结果表明：与SA预处理织物相比,表面活性剂的引入可使亚麻织物表面墨滴铺展面积减小14%,墨滴渗化程度也明显减小;青色和黑色印花色块的表观颜色深度增加,摩擦色牢度略有降低,断裂强力和耐日晒色牢度无明显改变。同时从SEM图看出,经预处理后,SDS+SA预处理剂在亚麻织物表面上形成了薄膜,纤维间以锯齿状的膜结构堵塞了孔隙,促使更多的活性染料在滴落的位置与纤维发生共价结合;此外,预处理处理后织物的亲水性增加,有利于染料对亚麻纤维的上染。     

New polymer materials based on silicone‐acrylic copolymer to improve fastness properties of reactive dyes on cotton fabrics

New polymer materials, based on silicone‐acrylic copolymer containing cationic groups, were synthesized through radical mechanism and ring‐opening polymerization of cyclosiloxane. The polymers of polyacrylate/polysiloxane improved the fastness properties of reactive dyes on cotton. In comparison with those of polyacrylate‐containing cationic groups, the wash fastness and wet rubbing fastness of the dyed cotton fabric treated with the new polymer materials were better. The handle of the fabric with aftertreatment was also good. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 720–725, 2006     

染料型喷墨墨水与聚合物涂层的相互作用及对色牢度的影响

介绍了彩色喷墨打印的发展概况,分析了墨滴的形成与铺展,墨水的渗透与染料的固定,打印纸表面涂层结构,综述了近年来的染料与聚合物涂层的相互作用及牢度影响的研究进展。静电吸引作用有益于提高染料的耐水洗牢度,氢键作用有益于染料的光牢度,而化学键合作用无论是对光牢度还是耐水洗牢度,均会有显著的提高。     

A novel resist technique based on secondary amines for the printing of cotton with reactive dyes

In an earlier paper we have described sulphite‐based resist printing using ink‐jet procedures. This paper describes an alternative approach to sulphite inactivation of vinylsulphone dyes by using secondary amines to inactivate fluoro‐s‐triazine dyes while maintaining the reactivity of the vinylsulphone dyes. Monofluoro‐s‐triazine reactive dyes are padded onto cotton fabrics and then deactivated by ink‐jet printing with a suitable secondary amine formulation to produce a white image on a solid ground colour after appropriate fixation and soap‐off procedures have been undertaken. A coloured image can be achieved by overprinting the resist‐printed areas with a coloured ink formulation containing a β‐sulphatoethylsulphone‐type reactive dye; such dyes form a β‐bis‐alkylaminoethylsulphone dye via reaction with the secondary amine. This latter dye ‘unblocks’ during a mildly acidic steaming process to form the reactive vinylsulphone dye, and so, unlike the monofluoro‐s‐triazine dye, is not deactivated towards subsequent covalent reaction with the cotton substrate.     

Synthesis of a di‐(p‐sulphophenoxy)‐s‐triazine reactive dye and its application in wool fabric ink‐jet printing

Reactive dyes based on p‐sulphophenoxy‐s‐triazines were synthesised, characterised and applied to wool fabric by ink‐jet printing. The extent of dye‐fibre covalent bonding (% fixation) was measured on prints produced using different development methods. The most promising method to obtain high dye‐fibre fixation values was to interleave the printed wool with a pre‐wetted cotton fabric and store for 3 h. Steam fixation was also investigated but gave lower fixation values. The degree of dye hydrolysis vs time in the ink formulation was evaluated because ink stability is critical in commercial operation; a reformulated ink based on a phosphate buffer was found to improve ink stability.