Dyeing of Recycled Electrospun Polyamide 6 Nanofibers: Implications of Dye Particle Size

Abstract

The dyeing of recycled polyamide nonwoven fabrics based on nanofibers (PA-NWNF), which were fabricated from polyamide wastes, was conducted in this study. Since PA-NWNF exhibited a high surface area to volume ratio, it was dyed with different particle sizes of Disperse Red 167 dye (DR 167, DR 167-B, and DR 167-C) without auxiliary agents to prevent further environmental pollution. The undyed and dyed PA-NWNF, as well as the applied dyes, were characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, and FT-IR techniques. Both color yield (K/S) and fastness of dyed PA-NWNF were also evaluated. The morphology of dyed DR 167-C owned homogeneity and smooth nanofibers. In addition, DR 167-C dye (the smallest particle size) provided numerous advantages, including high particle dispersion, low dyeing temperature, minimum processing time, and greater color yield. At a concentration of 15%, DR 167-C produced 55.1 and 33.18% color yields which were higher than DR 167 and DR 167-B, respectively. Also, DR 167-C achieved a better colorfastness to washing (very good, 4) compared to other studied dyes.