Green and Efficient Inkjet Printing of Cotton Fabrics Using Reactive Dye@Copolymer Nanospheres

Abstract

Digital inkjet printing of textiles possesses great advantages like high efficiency and flexible production, but the challenges like the risk of causing serious environmental problems due to the large usage of dyes and chemicals still remain a matter of concern. In response to this problem, herein, a novel kind of reactive dye@copolymer nanosphere was prepared through the adsorption of C. I. Reactive Red 218 dyes (RR218) onto cationic poly(styrene-butyl acrylate-vinylbenzyl trimethylammonium chloride) (PSBV) nanospheres and applied in inkjet printing on woven cotton fabric. Results show that the prepared RR218@PSBV nanospheres possessed homogeneous size and good stability for ink preparation. In comparison with the original RR218 solution, the color depth of RR218@PSBV-printed fabric increased by 1.4 times and the dye residues in the printing effluent were reduced by about 45%. Meanwhile, the consumptions of sodium carbonate and urea in conventional inkjet printing were reduced by about 3.3 and 22.8 mg/cm 2 , respectively, and the printing process was simplified with 30% energy saving. Furthermore, the mechanism of the color enhancement by nanospheres was revealed by the calculation of absorption and scattering coefficients based on the Kubelka−Munk function. This work provides a potential application of dye@polymer nanospheres to promote the optimization of the textile inkjet printing technique and alleviates the environmental impact of conventional textile coloration.

Insights into Influences of Dye Hydrophobicity on Cleanliness and Resolution of Fabric Ink-Jet Printing

“…17,18 The dye is modified to improve the resolution and adjust ink formula. 19,20 Surfactants such as naphthalene sulfonic acid are added into the ink to adjust the surface tension and other important parameters for stable droplet behavior. 8 In order to obtain stable droplets, it is necessary to adjust the parameters to avoid air pollution by tiny droplets.…”

“…Some researchers have conducted various studies to improve the resolution of ink-jet printing images, which is closely related to the ink droplet shape. , Different types and amounts of organic solvents are added into reactive dye inks to obtain more stable droplets and high-quality images, which is conducive to improve dye efficiency. , The dye is modified to improve the resolution and adjust ink formula. , Surfactants such as naphthalene sulfonic acid are added into the ink to adjust the surface tension and other important parameters for stable droplet behavior . In order to obtain stable droplets, it is necessary to adjust the parameters to avoid air pollution by tiny droplets …”

Classifications and Applications of Inkjet Printing Technology: A Review

“…Various studies have researched and developed materials for inkjet printing for printing on fabrics. Song et al [172] synthesized RR218@PSBV by the absorption of RR218 (red dye 218) onto PSBV (poly (styrene-butyl acrylatevinylbenzyl trimethylammonium chloride) nanospheres and inkjet-printed it on cotton fabric, as shown in Fig. 14-a.…”

“…14-a. The dye@copolymer nanosphere improved the color performance, image quality, and material conservation [172]. In [173], two reactive red dyes, RR218 and reactive red 24:1 were inkjet-printed and the resulting droplets were compared.…”

Eco-Friendly Pretreatment to the Coloration Enhancement of Reactive Dye Digital Inkjet Printing on Wool Fabrics

“…Digital inkjet printing as a new environmental technology has been initially applied in the textile industry. It has unique superiorities such as low cost, high precision, and celerity compared with traditional printing which was limited to produce high-quality and personalized products. − Among all kinds of dye-based inks, reactive dye ink accounts for an increasing proportion. It has the advantages of bright color, comprehensive color range, good level dyeing, and high fastness, and it can form covalent bonds with both cotton and wool fabrics. − Plenty of research studies reported that reactive dye inkjet printing has been successfully used for cotton fabrics as it shows cotton’s characteristics of reproducibility, good dyeability, and low cost. , However, there are few articles reporting about its application in wool fabrics.…”