Abstract

Functional polyethers for fixing pigments on cotton and wool fibres

Author(s): Ahmed G.Hassabo,Michael Erberich, Crisan Popescu, Helmut Keul

The present work describes an alternative to traditional dyeing of cotton and wool by using their coating with pigments. An application to the surface in general entails the risk of a slight down-washing of the dye from the fibre surface. To circumvent this problem, a random copolymer is synthesized by the use of Allylglycidylether and Ethoxyethylglycidylether as starting materials. This copolymer is converted by hydrolysis, modification with dimethylaminopropylamine and 3-aminopropyl-tris (trimethylsiloxy) silane and final quaternization with methyl iodide in a cationic polymer, into a binding agent between the fibre and pigment. The SEM examination of the results of applying the copolymer complexed with a fluorescent pigment on to cotton and wool shows that the coating layer on cotton is, generally, more consistent than on wool fibres, in line with the different electric charge distribution along the fibre surfaces. These observations allows us proposing the optimum pH range for utilization of the polymer-pigment complex in coating operation as being of 7Â…9, for 30 minutes at 50°C for wool and 90°C for cotton, respectively