Pretreatment of Cotton Fibres with Alcohols to Optimize Dye Uptake

Cotton fibres were subjected to cleaning process and then characterized for maturity. Decrystallisation and swelling processes with caustic soda, ethanol, propan-2-ol and Trichloroethene on the native fibres were carried out. The effects of these on the strength and moisture regain were investigated. The activation energies of the dyeings were also analysed with Durazol Scarlet Red 4 BAS. The results indicated that unlike the traditional scouring/bleaching processes the use of these reagents did not lead to adverse loss in strength. The moisture regain values also appreciated above the control indicating swelling, which might have resulted from decrystallization. The reduction of the activation energy as a result of the pretreatments confirmed the assertion. The performance of propan-2-ol was phenomenal. It suffices to say that propan-2-ol could replace the caustic soda kiering process with its attendant environmental hazards and often-difficult recycling procedure.
 
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