Coloration of gray cotton fabric pre-treated with electron beam irradiation and supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

This work investigates the dyeability of gray cotton fabric that has been pre-treated and scoured using an alternate water-free technique composed of electron beam (EB) irradiation and supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). The investigation was conducted for diazo and anionic anthraquinone reactive dyes. The effects of the EB irradiation dose and treatment conditions in scCO2 on the color strength, levelness and color fastness properties are also explored.The results show that the fabric exhibited higher color strength for all dyes in the absence of EB irradiation. With an increase in EB irradiation dose, it was discovered that the color strength and shade decreased. However, higher color levelness showed that the dye was more uniformly absorbed at higher EB irradiation dose as opposed to the non-irradiated fabric. Additionally, scouring in scCO2 produced fabric with better dyeability than untreated fabric. However, in the scCO2 treatment, a few variations between the various additions were found. Finally, the fastness characteristics of the dyed fabric were shown to be improved by pre-treatment with EB irradiation and scCO2.