The Influence of Cationization on the Dyeing Performance of Cotton Fabrics with Direct Dyes

The effect of cationic modification of cotton fabrics, using cationic agent (Chromatech 9414) on direct dyeing characteristics was studied in this work. Cationization of cotton fabric at different conditions (pH, cationic agent concentration, temperature and time) was investigated and the optimum conditions were determined . Nitrogen content of cotton samples pretreated with cationic agent was indicated. The results showed that increasing cationic agent concentration lead to higher nitrogen content on cotton fabric . The cationized cotton fabrics were dyed with two direct dyes (C.I. Direct Yellow 142 C.I. Direct red 224) and the results were compared to untreated cotton fabrics. The parameters which may affect the dyeing process such as dye concn., addition of salt, time and temperature of dyeing were studied. The dyeing results illustrate that cationization improves the fabric dyeability compared to the uncationized cotton and the magnitude of increase in colour depth depends on the nitrogen content of the cationized cotton fabric .The results also refer to possibility of dyeing cationized cotton fabric with direct dyes without addition of electrolytes to give colour strength higher than that achieved on uncationized cotton using conventional dyeing method .Another important advantage of cationic treatment is in the saving of dye concn., energy ,dyeing time , rinse water and subsequently saving of waste water treatment , and finally minimizes the environmental pollution . The changes in surface morphology of fibres after cationization were identified by various methods such as wettability and scanning with the electron microscope. Different fastness properties were evaluated.