Modification of cotton fabric with a cationic reactive polymer in bleaching to improve reactive dyeability

Abstract

The modification of scoured cotton fabric by chemical treatment was studied. The study was aimed to dye cotton fabric in the absence of salt. The principle method of modification was to graft polymerization of the cationic based vinyl monomer, [3-(Methacryloylamino) propyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MAPTAC), onto scoured cotton during bleaching process, aiming at modifying dye ability of the fiber using single-bath. An elemental analyzer was employed to measure the extent of MAPTAC fixation on cellulose. Modified cotton fabric was dyed with commercial reactive dyes by exhaustion method without the requirement of salt. The results showed that the ability of bleaching performance of H₂0₂ in the presence of the modifying agent was slightly reduced. The dye uptake and color strength of dyed modified fabric was markedly increased with an increase in the concentration of MAPTAC. In addition, those properties obtained from modified cotton fabric were higher than those obtained from the dyeing of unmodified cotton fabric. This was attributed to the presence of the cationic groups of the MAPTAC that played a crucial role in attracting the anionic dyes from the dye bath. The finding results tended to suggest that the dyeing properties of modified fabric were exactly dependent on the efficiency of MAPTAC fixation on cellulose during concurrent modifying and bleaching of cotton.