Cotton and jute fabrics were dyed with an aqueous extract of tea, containing tannins as the main colorant species. The dyeing was carried out with and without metal salts as mordants, using three different dyeing methods: pre-mordanting, meta-mordanting and post-mordanting. The resulting wash and light fastnesses of the dyed fabrics were good to excellent. The colour of the fabrics was investigated on computer colour matching system in terms of K/S, and CIELAB colour-difference values. Deep shades (K/S = 3.9) were obtained for jute in acidic media, while cotton fabrics could be dyed in medium depths (K/S = 2.0) under identical conditions of dyeing.

Acrylonitrile (AN) monomer was directly grafted onto gray cotton yarn using a KMnO 4 -HNO 3 redox system by a chemical initiation technique. The major factors affecting polymerization of AN, such as KMnO 4 , nitric acid, and AN concentration as well as the reaction time and temperature of the polymerization, were studied. The water absorbency of grafted fibers depends strongly on their posttreatment. Saponification of AN-g-cotton with a hot sodium hydroxide solution developed superabsorbency. Absorbency with distilled water and a saline solution (0.9% NaCl) was studied. Grafting cellulose with AN using a KMnO 4 /nitric acid redox system proceeds by a free-radical mechanism. Use of cotton in the gray form as a starting material rather than a bleached one helps in the better deposition of MnO 2 with subsequent acceleration of the grafting reaction, resulting in better whiteness of the grafted products. The enhancement in the whiteness index could be interpreted in terms of the oxidation of natural coloring matter, which happens to be the objective of the bleaching process. Grafting of AN onto gray cotton results in the elimination of several preparatory treatments including the conventional bleaching operation, ultimately reducing the water consumption as well as minimizing the unwanted effluent generation. The work has the potential of promoting cost-effective and environmental friendly technologies and techniques.

Polyester forms a major constituent among the synthetic fiber industry. It is the most popular synthetic fiber because of its high strength and esthetic appeal. Polyester being highly crystalline, hydrophobic and devoid of reactive groups, it is difficult to introduce reactive phosphorus into the fiber structure through chemical reactions with the phosphorus compounds. Fairly large quantities of the FR chemicals have to be incorporated to achieve selfextinguishing behavior. Although not all Flame Retardant (FR) chemicals are hazardous, it is advisable from an ecological point of view to introduce minimum quantities of FR substances in the fiber structure. The present Paper tries to address the said problems in a small way, so that the PET fiber could be better acceptable. Therefore, graft copolymerization of nitrogenous vinyl monomers has been carried out on the fiber followed by its reaction with phosphorus chemicals, thereby incorporating reactive phosphorus in the grafted substrate. It has been shown that a very small amount of the FR chemical could impart fire resistance of very high order to polyester. Self-extinguishing characteristic was achieved for poly (ethylene terephthalate) fibers with acrylamide-grafted-phosphorylated (AM-g-P) PET fibers containing just 0.189% phosphorus onweight-of-fiber (owf). Similar results were obtained for methacrylamide-grafted-phosphorylated (MAmg-P) polyester fibers at the 0.77% phosphorus content level. Efficiency of phosphorus in presence of nitrogen that was achieved was at 263% for acrylamide (AM) system, while it was-12% for acrylonitrile (AN-phosphorus combination). This is attributed to P-N synergism in case of the FR polyester system when the nitrogen is in the amido form present in AM and MAm monomers.