Dye Ink Research Articles

Direct Printing of Disperse Dye Inks to Polyester Fabrics without Chemical Pretreatment.

Direct inkjet digital printing is a relatively green and environmentally friendly textile printing method with a wide range of applications in the textile printing and dyeing industry. However, pretreatment of the fabric is required before digital printing, which will generate certain energy consumption and wastewater. In this study, a digital direct inkjet printing method was developed to improve the printing accuracy of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics without any pretreatment. A kind of direct inkjet printing ink was prepared by the response change in temperature viscosity. The increase in viscosity inhibits ink bleeding on the fabric, thereby improving printing accuracy. A thermosensitive direct inkjet printing disperse dye ink was prepared by adding cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and 3-methylsalicylic acid (3MS) to the ink. By evaluating the changes in the ink particle size, shear viscosity, and temperature viscosity, it was found that this thermosensitive ink has an excellent average particle size and special changes in viscosity with increasing temperature. When this heat-sensitive ink is printed on a polyester fabric, the fabric does not need pretreatment to improve the clarity of printing, and the printed fabric has satisfactory color fastness to friction and washing.

Green fabrication of inkjet printed antibacterial wool fabric with natural gardenia yellow dye

The application of chemical synthetic dyes causes serious environmental pollution and high energy consumption. Natural plant dyes have become the most promising alternative in textile printing and dyeing processing with lower carbon emission. In this work, the properties of water-soluble gardenia yellow natural dye in inkjet printing of wool fabrics were studied in detail. The results of multiple light scattering showed that the gardenia yellow dye ink had high stability. The surface tension and viscosity of the ink can be adjusted by polyol-based organic solvents to obtain a stable droplet morphology. The influence mechanism of sodium polyacrylate sizing agent and polyol solvent on color depth and contour clarity of printing pattern have been deeply studied. After tannic treatment, gardenia yellow inkjet printed wool fabric can obtain satisfactory color fastness. At the same time, gardenia yellow dye endowed wool fabrics with good antibacterial property, and the antibacterial rate against S. aureus and E. coli can exceed 95%. In this study, both inkjet printing and color fixing process are green and non-pollution, which provides an idea reference for the production of natural green antibacterial textiles.

Development of UV monomer-contained dye inks for high-quality printing application on polyester fabrics without pretreatment

The use of direct inkjet printing in the textile industry is an environmentally friendly option. However, the need for pretreatment of most fabrics before digital printing has been a major issue. In this study, a green and straightforward approach was developed that enhances printing accuracy without requiring any pretreatment. A novel waterborne disperse dye-based inkjet ink containing polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) was developed that significantly improved the rheology of ink drops on the surface, resulting in superior printing quality on polyester fabric. The printing mechanism of the inks was thoroughly investigated by evaluating their conductivity, pH, particle size, surface tension, viscosity, and ink droplet formation. Real-time photo-rheological and low field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) analyses were performed to investigate the behavior of the ink drops on the polyester fabric surface. Finally, the Kawabata evaluation system (KES) was employed to understand the impact of direct digital printing on fabric performance.

Polymer pretreatment to control the distribution of dye inks on bicomponent interwoven fabric with different weaves to improve inkjet printing

Pretreatment is an effective way to increase the dye utilization rate and improve quality of inkjet printing products. The hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose has been shown to be effective in pretreating for fabrics before inkjet printing. However, pretreatment of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) on fabrics with different weaves has not been systematically studied. Three kinds of cotton/polyamide interwoven fabrics with different weaves were investigated in this study. The results shown that hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose could form the polymer film on the fabric surface, whether the yarns were loose or tight. The fibers or yarns of the fabrics with different weaves could be connected by HPMC. The pores on the fabric surfaces were blocked, and the fabric surface became more hydrophobic. The ink which spread to the far end of the yarn was reduced, while the ink which was absorbed by HPMC and the ink which migrated to the adjacent fibers were increased. More inks were left in the initial position. After HPMC pretreatment, the shape formed by the ink drops on the fabric was more similar to that formed by natural diffusion and was not affected by the fabric weaves. Therefore, the inkjet printing patterns on fabrics pretreated with HPMC were clearer. HPMC pretreatment was effective for cotton/polyamide fabrics with different weaves. The HPMC pretreatment could reduce the use of dyes, improve dye utilization, and is of great significance to environmental protection.

Hydrogen-Bond-Assisted Dye-Incorporated Waterborne Poly( urethane-urea) (WPU) for an Environment-Friendly Textile Dyeing Process

To propose a green dyeing strategy permitting the incorporation of chromophores via the promotion of physical bonding and a simple sewage processing procedure, a strategy for increasing the reactivity of a conventional disperse dye, namely, 1-amino-4-hydroxy-2-phenoxyanthraquinone (Disperse Red 60, R60), to isocyanate groups and miscibility with waterborne poly(urethane-urea) (WPU) was reported. The modified dye R60-OH was prepared by the alkylation of 3-bromopropan-1-ol. Subsequently, R60-OH was reacted with the trifunctional isocyanate (named R60-O-THDI), which provided additional hydrogen bonds between the dye and the polymer chain and rendered better color fastness. Polyester, nylon, and cotton fabric coated with R60 and R60-O-THDI-incorporated WPUs were investigated by colorimetric analysis, washing tests, and rubbing color fastness. R60-O-THDI exhibited the best rubbing and washing color fastness, indicative of a simple method to fabricate a water-based dye ink without grafting a chromophore onto a polymer backbone via the promotion of physical bonding. The proposed green dyeing strategy also permitted a simple sewage processing procedure to recover polyurethane from the suspension by changing the pH, rendering better color fastness on textiles, as well as less wastewater production.

Regulating the Alkyl Chain Length of Quaternary Ammonium Salt to Enhance the Inkjet Printing Performance on Cationic Cotton Fabric with Reactive Dye Ink.

Cationic modification of cotton fabric was an effective way to improve the inkjet printing performance with reactive dye ink. However, there were few research studies that focused on the effect of the cationic agent structure, especially the alkyl chain length of the quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) cationic modifier, on the K/S value, dye fixation, and diffusion of inkjet-printed cotton fabric. In our work, different alkyl chain lengths of QAS were synthesized, and the inkjet printing performance of cationic cotton fabrics treated with different QASs was investigated. Compared with untreated cotton fabric, the K/S value and dye fixation of cationic cotton fabric treated with different QASs improved by 10.7 to 69.3% and 16.9 to 27.7%, respectively. With the increase in alkyl chain length of QAS, the interaction force between anionic reactive dyes and cationic QAS gradually increased mainly due to the fact that more N-positive ions on the quaternary ammonium group were exposed under the action of steric hindrance of alkyl chain length through the XPS spectrum. The electrostatic attraction between cationic cotton and reactive dye contributed to the diffusion of reactive dye into the fiber interior and enhanced the reaction probability of nucleophilic substitution reaction between monochlorotriazine reactive dye and the hydroxyl group of cotton fabric. The antibacterial result of the inkjet-printed cotton fabric indicated that when the alkyl chain length of QAS was higher than 8, the cationic cotton fabric obtained good antibacterial property.

Simplified and efficient inkjet printing of cotton fabrics using cationic colored nanoparticles

Cotton is one of the most important apparel crops. However, the rapid development of traditional inkjet printing on cotton fabrics was restricted by chemical abuse and energy consumption, which caused serious environmental problems. Researching a new eco-friendly colorant is an urgent requirement for the textile printing and dyeing industry. Herein, we prepared a new cationic polyethyleneimine dye nanosphere (PBVP(R218)) that showed excellent performance in environmentally friendly inkjet printing of cotton fabrics without pretreatment. The PBVP (R218) nanospheres possessing high dye loading properties show an excellent aqueous stability, and performed outstanding stability during the inkjet printing process without satellite ink droplets. Compared with traditional reactive dye R218 inks, the PBVP(R218) nanospheres simplify the complicated inkjet printing process and eliminate the pretreatment and steaming processes for cotton fabrics. Meanwhile, there are no requirements for chemicals such as thickeners, salts and alkalis throughout the inkjet printing process, allowing greater energy savings and less emission. The patterns printed by PBVP(R218) nanospheres have good color fastness and better color depth than traditional reactive dye inks. Therefore, the development of green inkjet printing for cotton fabrics with dye/nanospheres can effectively reduce the environmental pollution and ecological impact of the textile industry.

Study on the quality and inkjet printing effect of the prepared washing-free disperse dye ink.

With the rapid development of digital inkjet printing, it will inevitably lead to the uneven quality of inkjet printing ink products on the market. Therefore, making a more comprehensive and accurate quality evaluation of digital printing ink is particularly important. In this study, a short process and environment-friendly washing-free disperse dye ink was prepared based on the research on ink quality. The quality of printing ink is closely related to its physical properties, printing ink stability, inkjet performance, and inkjet printing effect. The microdistribution state of water for washing-free disperse dye ink was analyzed by LF-NMR, and the influence of the microstate of water on the macro physical properties of the ink was clarified. The physical properties (particle size, pH value, surface tension, viscosity, rheological properties, etc.) of the washing-free disperse dye ink were systematically tested and analyzed. At the same time, the stability (weatherability, the temperature sensitivity of viscosity, and shear stability) and inkjet performance (drive waveform A, B, and C) of washing-free disperse dye ink were systematically investigated. Finally, the inkjet printing effect of washing-free disperse dye ink was evaluated. This study systematically examined the quality and printing effect of the prepared washing-free disperse dye ink and provided quality evaluation reference for the development of high-quality washing-free disperse dye ink.

Agricultural crops of sarsaparilla root as source of natural dye for inkjet printing and bio-functional finishing of cotton fabric

In this research, the extraction conditions of natural dyes from Sarsaparilla root were analyzed by response surface method, and the interaction between extract factors and their significant effects on sarsaparilla root extraction efficiency were discussed. The main components of Sarsaparilla root extraction were investigated by ATR-FTIR and chromogenic reaction, and the stability results of Sarsaparilla root extraction indicated that sarsaparilla root extraction obtained well thermal stability within the range of 60–100 ℃ as well as acceptable pH stability. The ATR-FTIR and XPS were obtained to confirm that the cationic modifier was fixed on the cellulose fiber through covalent bonds in the synchronous inkjet printing process, and the effect of cationic modifier’s alkyl chain length on the inkjet printing performance was clarified by Gaussian simulation calculation. The colorfastness of Sarsaparilla root natural dye ink was further improved by post-mordant treatment, and the mechanism of colorfastness improvement was elucidated by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The inkjet printed cotton fabrics with CHPTAC-8 ink and Sarsaparilla root ink indicated well UV protection (134.87) and antibacterial property against both Staphylococcus aureus (96.3 %) and Escherichia coli (99.1 %).

Performance of Washing-Free Printing of Disperse Dye Inks: Influence of Water-Borne Polymers.

Dye-containing wastewater discharge from the textile industry poses a serious pollution hazard that can be overcome by eliminating the washing step following the dyeing process. To study the washing-free printing of disperse dye ink, a number of water-borne polymers were selected and added to the ink, and the properties of the inks were discussed. By optimizing the ink formulation, printed fabrics with high color strength and color fastness were produced. The effects of the addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the ink jetting performance and printing performance were intensively investigated. The migration–diffusion–fixation behavior of disperse dyes in inks on the polyester fiber was explored. The disperse dye ink with 0.075 wt.% PVA exhibited the strongest migration–diffusion effect. The PVA ink exhibited excellent jetting performance and printing color fastness, and the printing color strength was better than that of the PVP and PEG ink. The addition of PVA increased the difference between the solubility parameter of the disperse dyes and ink system, which improved the migration of disperse dyes from the ink system to the polyester fabric. Meanwhile, PVA could form a protective layer on printed fabrics because of its excellent film-forming properties at room temperature. The washing-free inkjet printing method developed in this study provides a theoretical basis for screening water-borne polymers and an environmentally friendly pathway for the printing of textiles.

Organic solvent free, high performance and cleaning reactive dye ink using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose for inkjet printing

Organic solvents adjusting the surface tension and viscosity of reactive dye inks for good droplet formation has resulted in low dye utilization and serious environmental pollution. Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) has advantages of biocompatibility, renewability and excellent surface tension and viscosity. Here, an organic solvent free dye ink was developed using HPMC and the printability of HPMC/dye inks was compared with diethylene glycol (DEG)/dye inks and commercial inks. Only adding 0.6 wt% of HPMC could obtain good droplet formation, while DEG needed to be added by 50 wt%. The HPMC/dye ink printed patterns exhibited much deeper color than the DEG/dye ink and the commercial ink due to the less diffusion of HPMC/dye ink to the back of the fabric. moreover, as the small dosage of HPMC and the poor reactivity between HPMC and reactive dye, the coloring effluent of the HPMC/dye ink was less than the DEG/dye ink and the commercial ink. According to the data of World Textile Information Network, HPMC adjusting the jetting performance will save 1.4 billion ¥ than DEG in 2025. The HPMC/dye ink is a clean ink with advantages of high performance and low pollution and cost.

The enhancement of wool reactive dyes ink-jet printing through air plasma pretreatment

Ink-jet printing is a clean and high-definition printing method for wool fabrics. However, due to the existence of scale layers, the dyes were hardly absorbed into the wool fibers, resulting in poor printing quality. In this work, a green and efficient air plasma pretreatment method was proposed to improve ink-jet printing performance of wool fabrics using reactive dye inks. The results showed that the wool surface was etched after plasma treatment, which led to the increased contact area between wool fiber and dyes. Meanwhile, due to the introduction of more oxygen-containing functional groups on the fiber surface, and part of the –SH and –S-S- were oxidized into –S-O-, the wettability of wool was obviously enhanced with the contact angle decreasing from 135° to 27.5°. The breaks of C–C and C–N bonds resulted in the increase of binding sites between reactive dyes and wool fibers. Because of the above changes, the inks were easily absorbed into the fiber, which promoted the covalent binding of dyes and fibers. As a result, compared with the untreated wool fabric (K/S value of 14.64), the wool fabrics treated by air plasma for 3 min obtained a wonderful printing effect with a K/S value of 22.34. This pretreatment method provides an environmental and efficient approach for the improvement of wool fabrics ink-jet printing performance.

Hydrophobic and Rapid-Response Sensor Inks: Array-Based Fingerprinting of Perfumes.

Counterfeited perfumes mixed with inexpensive additives for commercial purposes pose a great threat to cosmetic market competition and human health. Herein, a 24-element, solid-state colorimetric sensor array employing chemo-responsive dye inks for accurate discrimination of a variety of fragrance bases and "sniffing out" real perfumes from adulterated samples was first reported. The physiochemical robustness and gas response kinetics of the sensor array were optimized with the streamlined design of the channel geometry and hydrophobic modification of the sensor substrate. A unique and distinguishable color change profile was obtained within 2 min exposure of diluted vapor that enabled clear fingerprinting of chemically similar perfume samples. Four commercial perfume products were successfully distinguished and categorized according to their similarity to relevant perfume bases using chemometric methods including hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis. The sensor array also allows the discrimination of ethanol-diluted fragrance bases from the pristine sample, revealing its potential for quality assurance of perfumes and other cosmetics. Such easy-to-use, disposable, and miniaturized chemical sensing detectors therefore prove exceptionally valuable for fast analysis of luxuries such as perfumes and other industrial products with complex chemical compositions.

Different influences of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose pretreatment on surface properties of cotton and polyamide in inkjet printing

Because of the huge difference in the surface properties of cotton fibers and polyamide fibers, the cotton/polyamide fabric has a poor ink-jet printing effect without pretreatment, such as the lighter color and the poor definition. Herein, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose was used to pretreat the cotton/polyamide fabric to improve the fabric surface properties. The results show that the surface property change of cotton fibers and polyamide fibers are diverse. Due to changes of groups on fiber surface, the surface hydrophilicity of cotton fiber is weakened, while the hydrophilicity of the polyamide fiber surface is enhanced. Meanwhile, the yarn gaps are filled by HPMC, which promotes the migration of the reactive dye inks to adjacent yarns instead of the spread along the single yarn. These combined effects control the diffuse of ink droplets on the fiber surface and are beneficial to improvement of inkjet printing color strength and sharpness for the cotton/polyamide fabrics. Compared with sodium alginate, the K/S of the pretreated cotton/polyamide fabric inkjet printed cyan, magenta, yellow and black are increased by38.5%, 61.2%, 30.9% and 30.5%, respectively. We believe that HPMC pretreatment is an easy and effective method to improve the inkjet printing performance of the cotton/polyamide fabric, which can be of great potential for industrial production in the future.

Novel lacmoid-based deep eutectic solvent dye as writing ink

A novel lacmoid-based deep eutectic solvent was prepared by mixing of choline chloride as hydrogen bond acceptor and lacmoid as hydrogen bond donor. The mixture of both components was heated until a stable purplish blue homogenous liquid DES dye was formed at 25 °C temperature. The physical and chemical properties of the DES dye ink were studied at 25 °C temperature and characterized by FT-IR, TLC, TGA, 1H-NMR and DSC techniques. The DES dye ink was applied as writing ink and it revealed interesting characteristics for writing without feathering, fading, and penetrating the reverse side of paper and drying by adsorption within few seconds. Moreover, The DES dye ink showed high stability in water for 72 h due to the absorption of DES dye ink by cellulose paper. The green DES dye ink exhibited an effective ability to replacement of pigments and organic compounds used in making writing ink.

Ecofriendly urea-free pretreatment to enhance the inkjet printing performance of reactive dye inks on cotton fabrics

In our work, a urea-free dye fixation process was developed to eliminate the use of urea and improve the dye fixation of reactive dyes to decrease the environmental influence of the inkjet printing industry.

Investigation into the reaction of reactive dyes with carboxylate salts and the application of carboxylate‐modified reactive dyes to cotton

AbstractInk‐jet printing of cellulosic fabrics with reactive dyes typically requires that the fabric is pretreated with alkali, prior to printing, to facilitate efficient fixation of the dye. In this paper we evaluate the use of sodium formate and other carboxylate salts as a neutral (pH 6.5) pretreatment process. The thickened, prepared‐for‐print pad liquor contained at least 50 gdm−3 of the selected carboxylate salt and was applied to the cotton fabrics by a pad‐dry procedure. The fabric was then ink‐jet printed with reactive dye inks, followed by standard steaming and washing‐off processes. The pH of the carboxylate salt pretreatment was 6.5 and the aqueous extracts from the print fabrics at the end of the steaming process remained at pH 6.5. It was observed that even at pH 6.5, in the presence of selected carboxylates, significant reactive dye fixation could be achieved on a cotton substrate, whereas in the absence of the carboxylate, very little or even zero fixation was achieved. Infrared and capillary electrophoresis analyses of model reactions of reactive dyes with the carboxylate salts indicated that reactive ester residues were formed, and which subsequently promoted reaction with the cellulosic substrates. In addition to improving reactive dye fixation in ink‐jet printing, the carboxylate‐modified dyes were also demonstrated to improve long‐liquor dyeing properties on cotton substrates. As an extension of this carboxylate‐based printing process, the incorporation of lithium acetate (100 gdm−3) into the ink formulation was further studied and it was demonstrated that the necessity for a preparative pretreatment process could be eliminated.

The effects of CO2 laser treatment on a digital velvet printing

This research combines two digital technologies for customizing textile substrates: carbon dioxide (CO2) laser treatment and digital textile printing. The objective is to determine if creating pile height variation by laser engraving cotton velvet fabric prior to digital inkjet printing can impact the resulting color. Color yield depends on the surface in contact with the dye, a pile fabric (cotton velvet) was selected for this investigation. To develop samples, laser engraving was conducted to create pile height variance before printing using a CO2 laser machine, and laser intensity was controlled by adjusting the grayscale of patterns to modify pile height and surface contour of velvet. After laser treatment, seven-colored stripes were printed with a reactive dye ink printer. The reflectance values of printed color were measured by using a spectrophotometer. Pile height variation was demonstrated to cause a measurable effect on color results in inkjet printing using instrumental measures.

Construction of new surface on linen fabric by hydroxyethyl cellulose for improving inkjet printing performance of reactive dyes

Linen fabric as a natural fiber is one of the most popular textile products globally due to its excellent moisture absorption, antistatic, and antibacterial characteristics. However, it is still challenging to improve the color strength and utilization rate of reactive dye inks for printed linen fabrics. Herein, we proposed a polymer treatment agent to construct a new surface on linen fabric through a padding process, containing hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and urea. Then the fabric inkjet-printed with reactive dye inks. The results indicated that the HEC treated inkjet-printed linen fabric produced a higher performance with a satisfying fixation rate, more in-depth, and brighter color effect than sodium alginate (SA) treatment. SEM, wettability analysis, XPS and FTIR results revealed that the HEC treatment agent formed a film structure of the fabric to creat new surfaces with more hydrophobic of 46.5° contact angle and 0.9 s wetting time. XRD demonstrated no significant effect of HEC treatment on the aggregate structure of linen fiber. Also, the printed linen fabrics exhibited a satisfying color fastness and breaking strength.

Effect of Diethylene Glycol on the Inkjet Printability of Reactive Dye Solution for Cotton Fabrics.

Digital inkjet printing technology plays an increasingly important role in textile printing. The printing printability of reactive dye inks is the key to improving the quality of printed fabrics. In this study, an eco-friendly and simple method to improve the inkjet printability of reactive dye solutions was proposed. The influence of diethylene glycol on the surface tension, rheology, and dye molecule aggregation properties for three reactive dye solutions was investigated. The jetting performance of dye solutions was explored by observing droplet formation. Moreover, the color performance of printed cotton fabrics, including reactive dye solution penetration, colorimetric values, and color strength, was evaluated. Addition of diethylene glycol could change the aggregation of dye molecules by hydrophobic forces and hydrogen bonds. Diethylene glycol could inhibit formation of satellite droplets by changing the viscosity and surface tension of solutions, which made the pattern printed on cotton fabrics show regular edge sharpness. Furthermore, the dye solutions containing 10% DEG not only satisfied various properties of reactive dye inks but also had the highest color strength and the deepest and brightest colors.