Effects of cationic fixing agents on the direct dyeing properties of cotton fabrics

One mono-reactive and two bis-reactive 2,3-epoxypropyl derivatives of quaternary ammonium chloride have been synthesised and characterised using different spectroscopic techniques. The effects of these compounds as fixing agents have been evaluated on the direct dyeing properties of cotton fabrics. The results indicated that pretreatment of cotton fabrics with these cationic agents enhanced the colour strength and fastness properties of direct dyeings over the untreated dyeings without using high electrolyte concentrations. However, bis-reactive derivatives have proved to be more effective than the mono-reactive derivative. Amongst bis-reactive derivatives, the compound with lower steric hindrance has shown superior results.     

Continuous dyeing of cationised cotton with reactive dyes

Cotton fabrics pretreated with cationic starch have been dyed with reactive dyes by a continuous dyeing method and the pretreatment conditions influencing dyeability of the treated cotton investigated. Cationised cotton has been found to give level dyeing without the presence of salt and dye fixation is improved compared with untreated cotton. The dyeings show good wash and rub fastness.     

The application of reactive dyes to cotton by a wet-on-wet cold pad-batch method

Cotton ha been dyed with reactive dyes by both wet-on-wet (WOW) and wet-on-dry (WOD) cold pad-batch processes, and by conventional exhaust methods. The colour yields, in terms of the Kubelka-Munk values as a function of the amount of fixed dye, showed that the WOW method required less fixed dye to produce a given depth of shade than the other methods. It is proposed that the higher colour yields are a consequence of limited dye penetration into the cotton fibre. Compared with exhaust dyeings, WOW and WOD dyeings were clearly ring dyed but, unfortunately, no definitive difference in the degree of dye penetration into the cotton fibres was found despite their colour yield differences. Although ring dyeings often have inferior fastness properties, the WOW dyeings were of equal or slightly superior fastness to repeated washing and to normal daylight in comparison with the other dyeings     

Effects of atmospheric plasma treatment on the dyeability of cotton fabrics by acid dyes

Cotton fabrics were treated with air and argon atmospheric plasma for surface activation. Activated surfaces were grafted with two different amine compounds: ethylenediamine and triethylenetetramine. Pretreated cotton was dyed with acid dye and the effects of pretreatment on the colour strength, as well as the washing, rubbing and the light fastness of the dyeings, were investigated. Colour yield results showed that grafted ethylenediamine and triethylenetetramine enhance the dyeability of cotton fabric with acid dyes. Fourier transform infrared spectra confirmed the formed groups on the surface and scanning electron microscopy showed the etching effect of plasma.     

New cationic agents for improving the dyeability of cellulose fibres. Part 1 — pretreating cotton with polyepichlorohydrin-amine polymers for improving dyeability with direct dyes

Cotton fibres were treated with polyepichlorohydrin—dimethylamine and dyed with a selection of direct dyes. The pretreatment was found to reduce the amount of sodium chloride needed, and to increase exhaustion efficiency and perspiration fastness. The preparation and chemical characteristics of polyepichlorohydrin-dimetnylamine, the dyeing of the modified cotton and the quality of the direct dyeings are also discussed.     

Treatment of cellulose with cationic,nucleophilic polymers to enable reactive dyeing at neutral pH without electrolyte addition

Reactive dyeing of cotton requires very high concentrations of salt, which pollutes freshwater courses. The dyeing effluent is highly colored as a result of high levels of hydrolysis of the dye, and high volumes of water are used in the wash‐off process to remove the hydrolyzed dye in order to achieve the excellent wash‐fastness levels expected. A substantive cationic, nucleophilic polymer was applied to cotton as a pretreatment agent prior to dyeing. This enabled salt and alkali to be completely eliminated from the dyeing process, significantly reducing the duration of the dyeing process and requiring less than 50% of the volume of water compared with those of the standard reactive dyeing processes. Dyeings secured using the pretreatment method required one simple washing stage to give wash‐fastness values equal to those observed for the standard reactive dyeings that required several wash‐off stages. The color strength of the pretreated dyeing was also slightly higher than that of the standard dyeings, and this was attributable to a reduction in dye hydrolysis and hence a higher fixation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 1026–1031, 2003     

New cationic agents for improving the dyeability of cellulose fibres. Part 2-pretreating cotton with polyepichlorohydrin-amine polymers for improving dyeability with reactive dyes

Pretreatment of cotton with polyepichlorohydrin-dimethylamine produces a modified cotton that can be dyed under neutral conditions with selected low-reactivity dyes using a small amount of salt or with selected high-reactivity dyes without salt. The dyeings of treated cotton exhibit improved colour yield and high wash fastness. The properties and the quality of the reactive dyeings are discussed.     

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     

Modification of cotton to improve its dyeability. Part 1 — pretreating cotton with reactive polyamide-epichlorohydrin resin

Pretreatment of cotton with the polyamide-epichlorohydrin resin Hercosett 125 produces a fibre that may be dyed with selected reactive dyes under neutral pH conditions in the absence of salt and with high fixation efficiency. The physical and mechanical properties of the modified cotton, the colour fastness of the reactive dyeings and mechanistic implications are also discussed.     

The application of cationic fixing agents to cotton dyed with direct dyes under different pH conditions

The effect of application pH on the effectiveness of the conventional cationic fixing agents Matexil FC-ER and Fixogene CXF in improving the wash fastness of the commercial direct dyes CI Direct Red 89, CI Direct Yellow 106 and CI Direct Blue 85 on cotton has been investigated. While the recommended neutral pH application resulted in improved fastness of the dyeings to the ISOC06/C2 wash fastness test, wash fastness was noticeably better when the fixing agents were applied under alkaline conditions.     

Application of a hydrolyzable cationic agent,poly(acryloxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride), in salt‐free reactive dyeing for good dyeing properties

Poly(acryloxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride) (PAOTAC), in which cationic groups were connected with the polymer skeleton through ester bonds, was applied in the salt‐free reactive dyeing of cotton with the aim of achieving good dyeing properties. Exhaust and exhaust–pad–steam dyeing procedures were used with the cotton cationized with PAOTAC in the absence of salt; for comparison, both dyeing procedures were also applied with the untreated cotton in the presence of salt. The dyeing results show that only the exhaust–pad–steam dyeing procedure was suitable for dyeing cationic cotton to achieve a high dye fixation. Color yields, colorimetric properties, fastness properties, dyeing levelness, and penetration behaviors with different dyeing methods were evaluated. Compared with the dyeings with untreated cotton in conventional exhaust dyeing, dyeings with cationic cotton in the exhaust–pad–steam procedure showed equivalent or even better fastness with generally higher color yields and good dye penetration. Possible reasons for the improved salt‐free dyeing properties were proposed, and the hydrolysis of ester bonds within PAOTAC under the dyeing conditions was proven by IR spectroscopy. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

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.     

Application of a fibre-reactive chitosan derivative to cotton fabric as a zero-salt dyeing auxiliary

Cotton fabric has been treated with a fibre-reactive chitosan derivative containing quaternary ammonium groups, O -acrylamidomethyl- N -[(2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammonium)propyl]chitosan chloride (NMA-HTCC). Cotton treated with NMA-HTCC has been dyed with direct and reactive dyes without the addition of salt. The colour yield was higher than that on untreated cotton, despite the addition of a large amount salt in the latter case. After dyeing, cotton treated with NMA-HTCC gave better wash fastness than the untreated cotton. The light fastness was however inferior to that on untreated cotton. The antimicrobial activity of cotton treated with NMA-HTCC against Staphylococcus aureus was considerably lower after dyeing, probably due to the antimicrobial effect of the cationic group on NMA-HTCC being blocked by its combination with the anionic dye.     

Dyestuff–fibre interactions

An attempt was made to enhance the effectiveness of two commercial cationic fixing agents in improving the wash fastness of three commercial direct dyes on cotton. A syntan was subsequently applied to the aftertreated dyeings and the possible beneficial effect of this additional treatment on the fastness of the dyeings to the ISO C06/C2 wash test was assessed. Use of the syntan marginally enhanced the effectiveness of the cationic fixing agents but the effect of the syntan was both dye- and fixing agent-specific.     

Investigation into the effect of a plant‐derived stabiliser on the light and wash fastness of sulphur‐dyed cotton and nylon fabrics

In this study, cotton fabric and nylon fabric were dyed with a range of commercial sulphur dyes and the light and wash fastness of the coloured fabrics was investigated. The effect of after‐treating the coloured cotton and nylon fabrics with a tannin‐based commercial product, Bayprotect Cl, in the presence or absence of sodium sulphate in the treatment bath, was found to significantly improve the light fastness of the sulphur‐dyed cotton, and the photoprotective effect was partially stable to ISO 105‐C06 washing. In addition, the tannin‐based after‐treatment also improved the colour stability of the dyed fabrics to the perborate‐based ISO 105‐C06 washing. The possible mechanisms for the improved fastness properties are also discussed. The application of sulphur dyes to nylon is potentially commercially useful but has been limited because of the reported poor light fastness of the dyeings. The photoprotective effect of the tannin‐based after‐treatment was investigated with a view to providing the necessary commercial performance. However, it was established that on this fibre, the light fastness improvement was marginal, and the associated wash fastness to oxidative bleach‐based ISO 105‐C06 washing was limited.     

Dyeing of polyester and its blends with some disazo dyes derived from the disodium salt of chromotropic acid and their chelates with transition metal ions

Disazo dyes derived from the disodium salt of chromotropic acid and their chelates with metal ions were applied on polyester, polyester/cotton and polyester/wool blend fibres as disperse dyes. The fastness to washing, perspiration, rubbing and light of the resultant dyeings were measured. The bonding of dye or its complexes to the fibre and the effect of substituent groups on the colour fastness of the dyes are discussed.     

Pretreatment of cotton with poly(vinylamine chloride) for salt-free dyeing with reactive dyes

Poly(vinylamine chloride) has been investigated as a pretreatment for the salt-free dyeing of cotton with reactive dyes. Dye fixation was found to be much higher than by conventional dyeing without pretreatment, even in the presence of a large amount of salt. The influence of pretreatment conditions on dye fixation, such as pad–bake variables and the concentration of poly(vinylamine chloride), has been studied. The dyeing behaviour of CI Reactive Red 2 on pretreated cotton was examined and found to follow a Langmuir-type adsorption curve. Dyed cotton pretreated with poly(vinylamine chloride) showed excellent wash fastness and good rub fastness. It is concluded that poly(vinylamine chloride) is effective as a pretreatment for salt-free dyeing with reactive dyes.     

Fixation of reactive dyes using radio-frequency energy

Radio-frequency (r.f.) energy has been used to increase the fixation rate of reactive dyes on cotton fabric in pad-batch dyeing. A parallel-plate r.f. applicator was used to heat batches of fabric containing reactive dye formulations. The time required for fixation of the dyes was reduced from several hours to a few minutes by heating the fabric in the radio-frequency field. Reactive dyes incorporating three different types of reactive groups, vinylsulphone, nicotinic acid, and mixed vinylsulphone/ monochlorotriazine were studied and found to be applicable using the hot pad-batch method. The colour yield and wash fastness of dyeings with the vinylsulphone/monochlorotriazine bifunctional dyes using r.f.-assisted fixation was equal or superior to those of dyeings performed by conventional cold pad-batch dyeing methods.     

Multifunctional anionic cotton dyeings

Anionic cotton dyeings with anti‐ultraviolet and antibacterial functions were prepared by the post‐treatment of direct and reactive cotton dyeings with a zirconium oxychloride salt solution. The extent of improvement in the functional properties was governed by the structure and pretreatment history of the knitted cotton fabric, the kind and concentration of the anionic dye, and the dyeing regime. The chelation and fixation of the positively charged zirconium ions onto and/or within the dyed substrate resulted in an enhancement in the ultraviolet absorption capacity of the treated substrate and interaction with the thiol groups of the cellular protein; this imparted antibacterial activity against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria without adverse effects on the hue of the obtained dyeings. Both the anti‐ultraviolet and bacterial functions of the post‐treated dyeings survived through 15 washing cycles. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Aftertreatment of 1:2 metal complex acid dyes on conventional and microtibre nylon 6. 6 with a commercial syntan/cation system

Dyeings (2% owf) were produced on conventional and microfibre nylon 6. 6 fabrics using unsulphonated, monosulphonated and disulphonated 1:2 metal complex acid dyes. When subjected to the ISO 105:C06/C2 wash test, the wash fastness behaviour of the dyeings was related to the degree of sulphonation of the dyes. Aftertreatment of the dyeings using a commercial syntan improved the wash fastness of the dyeings whereas the sequential application of a cationic compound to the syntanned dyeings caused a further improvement in wash fastness.