The roles of polymer relaxation phenomena, aqueous dye solubility and the physical properties of water in the mechanism of adsorption of a disperse dye on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibres: part 5 analysis of polymer relaxation phenomena for different polymers

Abstract

The temperature dependent uptake of a commercial disperse dye on cotton and polyamide 66 fabrics at dyeing temperatures between 30°C and 130°C adhered to the Williams–Landel–Ferry equation, insofar as, very good correspondence was observed between plots of experimentally determined colour strength data points (log1/fk) and the respective structural relaxation times of the cellulose and nylon 66 polymers (logaT data points), as a function of the parameter (T − Tg). Adsorption of the dye on both types of fibre therefore concurs with the fundamental precept of the free volume model of dye diffusion. Comparison of the adherence of the uptake of the commercial dye on cotton and polyamide 66 fabrics with that secured on polyester fabric revealed that despite the major chemical and physical differences between the three types of fibre, the same dyeing mechanism likely applies to each fibre type. The marked temperature dependent uptake of the commercial grade disperse dye each of the three types of substrate is the consequence of two, different, but inherently interconnected, thermally activated phenomena, namely the relaxation times of the molecular rearrangements occurring within the respective cellulose, nylon 66 or poly(ethylene terephthalate) macromolecule, in which polymer glass transition assumes the principal role, and the aqueous solubility of the commercial grade disperse dye.