The Determination of Diffusion Coefficients as a Function of Concentration for Dyes in Fibres

A method of determining the dependence on dye concentration of the diffusion coefficient of dyes in fibrous substrates has been developed, based on an approximation method of Crank, in which the amount of dye adsorbed by the fibre is measured colorimetrically as a function of time. The method has been applied to two dyeing systems, the direct dye Chlorazol Sky Blue FF (C. I. Direct Blue 1) on rayon and the acid dye Naphthalene Scarlet 4R (C. I. Acid Red 18) on nylon 6. 6. The results are in good agreement with those of R. H. Peters et al. for the same dyes and substrates, although Peters used films and not fibres and determined diffusion coefficients by an experimentally more complex method that appears impractical for fibres, the film being sectioned and the dye concentration measured as a function of distance with a microdensitometer.