VIS absorption spectrophotometry of disperse dyes

In the investigations of the dyeing processes, the low solubility of disperse dyes in water represents a practical problem for the determination of dye concentration in dyebaths and waste waters. Therefore the use of an organic solvent which, dissolves disperse dyes, is recommended in visible spectrophotometry of disperse dyes. Three organic solvents (ethanol, N,N-dimethylformamide, acetone) and two disperse dyes, the disazo dye C.I. Disperse Orange 29 and the anthraquinone dye C.I. Disperse Blue 56, were used for spectroscopic analysis in this present work. The absorbance of aqueous dye dispersions and various organic solvent dye solutions was measured to evaluate the effect of the solvent on the shape and intensity of the absorption spectra and on the wavelength shift of maximum absorption. The validity of Beer–Lambert’s law in each system was ascertained. A suggestion is made how VIS absorption spectrophotometry can be used to determine the dye concentration in disperse dyebaths. The addition of organic solvent to the dyebath leads to dye dissolution, and the Beer-Lambert’s law is then fulfilled. The optimum ratio between the dyebath dispersion and the organic solvents for the dyes investigated is also determined.