An Investigation of the Dyeability of Acrylic Fiber Via Microwave Irradiation

Microwave dyeing was carried out under a variety of conditions in terms of the power and time of a microwave to investigate the effects of microwaving on the dyeability of acrylic fibers. It was found that the dyeability of acrylic fibers were significantly improved under microwave irradiation caused by the increased adsorption of the dye into fibers due to the local over heating and an amplified reaction probability between the dye and fiber. The physical properties of the acrylic fibers were elucidated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tensile strength measurements, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optimum time for the best dye uptake for given microwave powers was also reported.