Dyeing cotton with tea extract based on in-situ polymerization: An innovative mechanism of coloring cellulose fibers by industrial crop pigments

Abstract

Deep exploitation and utilization of industrial crops are becoming an efficient path to wrestle with the excessive consumption of non-renewable resources. In this research, a novel dyeing mechanism for cellulose fibers with tea pigments based on in-situ polymerization was developed. The pad-steam process was adopted to realize the coloration and fixation of tea pigments onto cotton fabric without using mordant. The optimal concentration of NaOH solution was determined to be 1.2 g/L. The effectiveness and advancement of this novel dyeing method were proved by the dyeing effect, washing color fastness and FTIR spectra. Dyed cotton fabric possessed soft color, good color fastness, as well as satisfactory antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. This research provided an innovative method for tea extract to simultaneously endow cotton with color and functionality without using chemical mordants, which was possessed of universal applicability for many kinds of industrial crops.