7 - Colorants for digital textile printing and their chemistry

Abstract

Colorants have remained the focus of research and development for many decades due to their importance in the textile dyeing and printing industry and their environmental impacts. With recent advancements in the digital printing of textiles and printing techniques, the issue of ink compatibility with all types of printing techniques remains a challenge. Therefore, the ink system has continuously been modified and developed per printing technology. Digital printing has achieved an elevated level of attention from industrialists and researchers as it has a better print quality and performance range of colors. This chapter discusses dye-based inks (reactive, acid, dispersed) and pigment inks, their application, and their interaction with the fiber polymer system. The properties of inks required for digital printing are also addressed briefly. Digital printing is the future of textile printing; in the future digital printing will expand largely, and commercial production will solely be done on digital printing.