Phospholipid bilayers as vehicles of anthraquinone disperse dyes in wool dyeing

Abstract

The use of multilamellar lipid vesicles as carriers of disperse dyes on wool fibres has been studied. Liposomes made from egg phosphatidylcholine containing the anthraquinone dye CI Disperse Violet 1 at different phospholipid/dye concentrations were used. The physical stability of these systems was assessed by measuring the mean vesicle size distribution of lipid vesicle suspensions after preparation and during dyeing. Kinetic aspects involving dye adsorption and bonding on untreated and chlorinated wool samples by means of the liposomes at different dye/lipid ratios were also investigated. This process led to the controlled dye exhaustion on wool, directly dependent on the relationship between the dye and lipid components, with a clear improvement in the dye‐fibre bonding forces and in the dispersing efficiency, compared with conventional dispersing agents. The optimum dye exhaustion was reached for the dye/phospholipid concentrations 0.53 and 1.0 mmol/l respectively. The maximum amounts of dye bonded on untreated wool fibre were obtained for the same dye/lipid molar ratio. However, chlorinated wool samples showed a slight decrease in the total bonded dye as the chlorination level increased.