Union dyeing of cotton/nylon blended fabric by plasma-nano chitosan treatment

AbstractCurrent union dyeing processes rely on one or two dye baths with one or two dyes for cotton/nylon blend fabrics. For 50:50 cotton/nylon fabrics, cotton is dyed first under alkaline condition with reactive dyes and then the nylon is dyed with acid dyes under acidic condition. Atmospheric plasma- nano Chitosan treatment as an environmentally friendly method was employed to modify surface properties of cotton/nylon blend fabrics to develop union dyeing with acid dyes. Cellulose fibers when immersed in water produce a negative electro-kinetic potential. The negative charge on the fiber repels the anionic dye ions and consequently the exhaustion of the dye bath is limited. When the fabric is treated with chitosan, the primary hydroxyl groups of cellulose is partially modified into amide groups, which intern leads the cellulose to act like as polyamide fiber. Experimental work was carried out on finding the possibility of one bath dyeing of plasma- chitosan pretreated cotton/nylon fabric with acid dyes. Plasma treated cotton/nylon surface characteristics were evaluated using FTIR. The surface activation using air plasma introduces different functional groups in cotton/nylon blend fabric. The effect of plasma-nano chitosan pretreatment on dye ability, fastness, and few physicochemical properties has been investigated, and results are presented. The cotton/nylon sample treated with 0.3% of chitosan nanoparticles had higher K/S values, washing, and crocking fastness. New method of union dyeing showed good fastness properties and offers the option of eco-friendly.