Dyeing behavior of laser-treated polyester

Abstract

Polyester fabric was pre-treated with laser, followed by dyeing. The experimental results revealed that the rate of dyeing was greatly increased but the final percentage of dye exhaustion at equilibrium did not show any significant change. Based on the thermodynamic parameter of dyeing, it was concluded that laser treatment could provide the possibility of developing a low temperature dyeing process. Morphological and thermal studies revealed that obvious surface structure changes occurred. In the morphological analysis, ripple-like structure was found after laser treatment. This ripple-like structure may have captured more dye particles which could improve the dyeing behavior of polyester fibre. On the other hand, thermal analysis result revealed that the surface of polyester becomes highly amorphous on laser treatment, due to ablation. Meanwhile, XPS analysis showed that hydrophilic functional groups were introduced on to the laser-treated polyester fibre surface. As a result, surface physical and chemical changes induced by laser affect the dyeing behavior of polyester fibre. However, the laser treatment could not impart any adverse effect on color fastness to crocking and washing.