Properties of a new nitrogen‐free additive as an alternative to urea and its application in reactive printing

Abstract

The development of a urea substitute with little nitrogen has become a hot research topic for cleaner production in reactive printing. In the current study, a mixture made from glycerol and 1,4-butanediol (1:1, w/w), namely, urea substitute glycerol butanediol (USGB), was used instead of urea in the printing paste formulation. USGB's abilities of moisture adsorption, swelling fibres and solubilisation to reactive dyes were compared with those of urea. The printing properties of USGB on different fabrics with reactive dyes were intensively investigated in comparison with urea and commercial 391-H. The results showed that USGB's ability to swell viscose fibres was superior to that of urea. When the dosage of USGB was within 8-10 wt% in the printing paste, the colour yield of USGB on viscose fabrics drew near to that of urea and was higher than that of 391-H. During viscose printing of reactive blue dyes with different shades and structures, the colour performance of USGB was close to that of urea and higher than that of 391-H. Furthermore, USGB could obtain good printing effects in deep printing with Reactive Turquoise K-GL on different fabrics.Compared with urea, the content of ammonia-nitrogen and total nitrogen in the printing wastewater using USGB were greatly reduced, which is of huge significance for lowering ammonia-nitrogen emissions in the printing industry.How to cite this article: Wang C, Xian Y, Wang H, et al. Properties of a new nitrogen-free additive as an alternative to urea and its application in reactive printing.

Textile printing: An integrated view of processes, properties, and future prospects

“…The literature is full of articles that demonstrate the development of screen printing applications, among them: modifications of thickening agents [74][75][76] ; use of nitrogen-free additives as an alternative to urea [77][78][79] ; plasma treatment [80][81][82][83] ; bifunctional reactive dye alternatives and application of cationic agents. [84][85][86][87][88][89] Zhang et al 76 developed an efficient and environmentally friendly enzymatic method to synthesise sodium-g-poly(acrylic acid) alginate as a high-performance print thickener via catalysis of horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide in the presence of acetylacetone.…”

“…The literature is full of articles that demonstrate the development of screen printing applications, among them: modifications of thickening agents 74–76 ; use of nitrogen‐free additives as an alternative to urea 77–79 ; plasma treatment 80–83 ; bifunctional reactive dye alternatives and application of cationic agents 84–89 …”

“…Wang et al 78 used glycerol butanediol to replace urea in printing paste and compared the abilities of moisture adsorption, fibre swelling, and solubilisation of urea‐reactive dyes. Glycerol butanediol showed as comprehensive and excellent printing performance as urea with Reactive Turquoise K‐GL on different fabrics.…”

Printing performances of a new nitrogen-free urea substitute in silk printing of reactive dyes

“…16 Wang et al used a mixture of alcohols as a substitute for urea in the reactive printing of viscose fabric. 17 Our previous studies have shown that moisture adsorption of the printing additives was the principal factor in xxxx, the swelling of fibers came second, and the promotion of solubilization in the reactive dyes was the last. 18 As the guidance of our previous studies, a new nitrogen-free additive (GBPA) was developed in the laboratory.…”