Application of waste Camellia oleifera fruit shell for printing on PP nonwoven

Abstract

Natural colorant extracted from the fruit shell of Camellia oleifera was applied to PP spunbond nonwoven fabric by pigment printing method. The printing pastes containing natural dye, a thickener, an acrylate binder, and ferrous sulfate were applied to the substrate via flat screen technique. The printed fabrics were evaluated in terms of colorimetric measurements, color fastness properties as well as mechanical behaviors. The increase in color strength and the change in color hues from light brown to greyish black were observed by varying the amounts of dye, binder and ferrous sulfate. Increasing binder concentration led to an improvement in tensile strength and elongation in most cases, but had a negative impact on tear strength. The printed nonwoven possessed fair to moderate light fastness and fair to excellent crock fastness.