Ozone bleaching of cotton fabrics with the aid of ultrasonic humidifier

Abstract

Cotton is an important industrial commodity for textile production. Its finishing is complicated and requires energy, chemicals and water. In this respect, for its sustainable production, some precautions should be taken. Today, due to consumer’s awareness of environmental issues, studies on ecologic alternative finishing processes have attracted much attention. In this study cotton, which is a natural cellulosic fiber, was bleached via the use of ozone gas and ultrasonic humidifier. Then the coloration of the fabrics was conducted by using green walnut shells (husks). In this way, it was planned to introduce alternative sustainable methods for cotton fabric finishing. It was found that ozone can be used for bleaching of cotton fabrics and even when no mordanting was applied; good colors with sufficient fastnesses were obtained from the cotton fabrics dyed with green walnut shells (husks). Moreover a way to utilize green walnut shells (husks), which are in fact cellulosic waste, was also introduced.