Introduction
Cotton fibre can chiefly be dyed with direct,reactive, vat, sulphur and azoic classes of dyestuffs. In textile applicationsthis environment friendly fibre has some distinct advantages like moderate dryand wet tensile strength, appreciable moisture regain, moderate extensibilityand soft feel, which makes it suitable for apparel and diversifiedapplications. Chemical modification of cotton to improve its affinity for acidand reactive classes of dyestuffs and as well as natural colourants hasreceived considerable attention in recent years [1-4]. Most of thesemodifications were based on the introduction of cationic groups in the form of quaternary,tertiary or secondary amino residues in the molecular structure of cottoncellulose. Unlike this, research works related to the application of pigment oncotton cellulose through an exhaust technique was scanty [5-7]. Pigments areinsoluble in water and have no affinity for textile. Use of pigments forprinting of textile by ancient Chinese in the eighteenth century by usingblocks had been reported in the literature [8]. Colouration of cotton cellulosewith pigment emulsion has always played a key role in determining the aestheticappeal and acceptability of the products made from them.
The main attention of the study embodied in the present papercenters round the modification of cotton cellulose by different aminatingagents to impart pigment affinity and to compare the results with theconventional pigment dyeing process. Optimisation of dose level of those aminatingagents in terms of depth of shade, mechanical parameters and assessment ofdifferent colourfastness properties of those pigment dyed fabrics were alsocarried out and the results are reported in the present work.
About the Author
The author is Lecturer at Visva Bharati University in the Department of Silpa Sadana (Textile section), Sriniketan, Dist. Birbhum, West Bengal.
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