Abstract
Dyeability of the fiber plays a very important role in the textile industry. The presence of cuticle scales on the surface of Rex rabbit fibers brings difficulties to dyeing process. In this study, O2 low temperature plasma was used to improve the dyeability of Rex rabbit fibers and the two key parameters including the treating time and discharge power were optimized during O2 low temperature plasma treatment. The impact of plasma treatment on the surface morphology, physical-chemical properties, and dyeing behavior of Rex rabbit fibers using anionic dyes were investigated by a series of characterization methods such as scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared–attenuated total reflection, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The surface dyeability and color fastness were studied by K/S measurement and washing fastness, respectively. The influence of O2 low temperature plasma treatment on the mechanical properties of Rex rabbit fibers was inspected by the tensile strength measurement. The wettability of the samples was evaluated in terms of wetting time and contact angle. The O2 low temperature plasma treatment resulted in a dramatic improvement in wettability of Rex rabbit fibers. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared–attenuated total reflection analysis show that oxygen plasma treatment led to a significant increase in the content of sulfur oxides and polar groups such as (–C=O, –OH, and –NH2) on the fiber surface and resulted in reinforced wettability, dyeing rate and dyeing fixation of Rex rabbit fibers.
Highlights
The Rex rabbit is known for its plush fur that has characteristics of shortness, fineness, density, smoothness, fastness, and beauty and its fur has great demand in some luxury clothing industry
Plasma etching effect removes partly hydrophobic epicuticle layer and creates larger surface roughness, which eliminated the barrier of the dyes penetration into the fiber surface increased the dyeing rate and fixation rate
After O2 Low temperature plasma (LTP) treatment, more hydrophilic active groups such as –OH, C=O, –NH2 were introduced into the fiber surface to increase the number of the combination sites between reactive dyes and fibers, improving the dyeing rate and fixation rate
Summary
The Rex rabbit is known for its plush fur that has characteristics of shortness, fineness, density, smoothness, fastness, and beauty and its fur has great demand in some luxury clothing industry. The thickness of the cuticle scales on the fiber surface is about 400–500 nm and consists of three layers which are endocuticle, exocuticle (150–200 nm), and the outermost epicuticle layer. The epicuticle layer contains fatty acids that bond covalently by a thioester bond to the surface of Rex rabbit fibers and forms a naturally hydrophobic barrier. The middle layer contains a lot of disulfide and isopeptide bonds.
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