Comparative Assessment of the Dyeing Process for Pristine and Modified Cotton Fabrics towards the Reduction of the Environmental Fingerprint

Zoi G. Lada (), Georgios N. Mathioudakis, Silvia Pavlidou, Georgios Goulas, Charalampos Anastasopoulos, Georgios Bokias, Konstantinos S. Andrikopoulos and George A. Voyiatzis ()
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Zoi G. Lada: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, (FORTH/ICE-HT), Stadiou Str. Platani, GR-265 04 Patras, Greece
Georgios N. Mathioudakis: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, (FORTH/ICE-HT), Stadiou Str. Platani, GR-265 04 Patras, Greece
Silvia Pavlidou: MIRTEC S.A., 72th km Athens-Lamia National Road, P.O. Box 150, GR-322 00 Schimatari, Greece
Georgios Goulas: COLORA S.A., P.O. Box 60590, GR-570 01 Thermi, Greece
Charalampos Anastasopoulos: Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR-265 00 Patras, Greece
Georgios Bokias: Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR-265 00 Patras, Greece
Konstantinos S. Andrikopoulos: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, (FORTH/ICE-HT), Stadiou Str. Platani, GR-265 04 Patras, Greece
George A. Voyiatzis: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, (FORTH/ICE-HT), Stadiou Str. Platani, GR-265 04 Patras, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Though an important and chronic source of dyes released to the environment, the determination of the release of dyes that occurs during household or industrial washing is usually disregarded. The main scope of this study is to reveal the extent of dye release through washing, and to understand if the modification of cotton fabrics with cationic polymers could reduce it. Modified cotton fabrics, dyed with Acid Blue 281 (AB) or by a mixture of the reactive dyes Novacron Yellow S-3R (NY), Novacron Ruby S-3B (NR) and Novacron Dark Blue S-GL (NDB), underwent a certified washing process. The dyed fabrics were analyzed colorimetrically, while the washing waters were analyzed spectroscopically, via UV/Vis absorption and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In the modified fabrics dyed with the acid dye, an increased dye uptake was noticed that exhibited a color intensity of K/S~16, compared to K/S~0.45 of the unmodified fabrics. The corresponding normalized dye release (dye concentration/color intensity factor) in the wash water was ~1.6 for the modified fabrics, compared to ~6.5 in the case of the unmodified fabrics, indicating the significance of cotton modification on both the dye uptake and dye release during washing. In the fabrics dyed with a mixture of selected reactive dyes, the color uptake of modified (K/S~10) was also increased compared with unmodified fabrics (K/S~4.5). An important observation, is that in the case of the dyeing of the reactive dyes mixture, a selectivity on the part of the dye uptake was noticed, since the contribution of NY (yellow) is higher compared to that of the blue (positive value of color indicator coordinate (b)); however, this also resulted in an increased NY dye release during washing. The findings of this study could contribute to the dye release problem control due to fabric washing, and to the understanding of any potential selectivity on the part of dye–cotton interactions.

Keywords: cotton textiles; dye release; environmental fingerprint; colorimetric measurements; UV/Vis spectroscopy; surface enhanced Raman scattering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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