The dyeing of polyacrylonitrile fibres with anionic dyes

Abstract

The mechanism of dyeing polyacrylonitrile fibres is discussed for two cases in which the fibre, through its affinity for H+ and Cu+ respectively, acquires cationic centres capable of permitting absorption of dye anions. In the first, affinity for H+ is created by basic sites introduced through copolymerization and the dyeing reactions are best described by a mechanism involving sites differing in basicity. In the other, every cyan0 group in polyacrylonitrile appears inherently capable of absorbing cuprous copper through formation of a complex of the type (RCN)Cu+, which acts as a site for fixation of dye * Throughout this paper subscripts f and s indicate fibre and solution respectively.