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The dyeing process of textile materials is inherently intricate, influenced by a myriad of factors, including dye concentration, dyeing time, pH level, temperature, type of dye, fiber composition, mechanical agitation, salt concentration, mordants, fixatives, water quality, dyeing method, and pre-treatment processes. The intricacy of achieving optimal settings during dyeing poses a significant challenge. In response, this study introduces a novel algorithmic approach that integrates response surface methodology (RSM), artificial neural network (ANN), and genetic algorithm (GA) techniques for the precise fine-tuning of concentration, time, pH, and temperature. The primary focus is on quantifying color strength, represented as K/S, as the response variable in the dyeing process of polyamide 6 and woolen fabric, utilizing plum-tree leaves as a sustainable dye source. Results indicate that ANN (R 2  ~ 1) performs much better than RSM (R 2  > 0.92). The optimization results, employing ANN-GA integration, indicate that a concentration of 100 wt.%, time of 86.06 min, pH level of 8.28, and a temperature of 100 °C yield a K/S value of 10.21 for polyamide 6 fabric. Similarly, a concentration of 55.85 wt.%, time of 120 min, pH level of 5, and temperature of 100 °C yield a K/S value of 7.65 for woolen fabric. This proposed methodology not only paves the way for sustainable textile dyeing but also facilitates the optimization of diverse dyeing processes for textile materials., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Growing concern about the environmental effects of metal mordants and synthetic dyes is encouraging the use of bio-mordants and natural colorants. Cinnamon bark is a rich source of natural colorants such as cinnamaldehyde and tannins. The main purpose of this research was to study and compare the effect of bio-mordants versus metal mordants in terms of colorimetric parameters and color fastness properties of cinnamon bark on wool fibers. Accordingly, some bio-mordants, including date kernel, peppermint, banana peel, and artemisia, as well as some metal mordants like aluminum potassium sulphate and copper sulphate, were studied based on three conventional mordanting methods (pre-, meta-, and post-mordanting). The results indicated that the conjunction of metal mordants and polyphenolic bio-mordants with cinnamon colorants can create different hues and tones of brown. Also, the color produced by cinnamon in wool fibers has poor color fastness and low color strength. Overall, bio-mordants have presented good color properties, making the dyeing process eco-friendly and greener. Among the applied bio-mordants, peppermint has created the best color strength and color fastness., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are commonly known as a waste resource and a raw material useful for dyeing. SCG is a rich source of natural colorant from the class of flavonoids and anthocyanins. In this research, silk fiber dyeing with the dye which was extracted from SCGs with different metallic and natural mordants was done by applying pre-, meta-, and post-mordanting methods. Metal salts like tin chloride and copper sulfate as well as such natural materials as pinecone, tannic acid, and lemon peel were used to act as mordants. Color strength and color parameters of the dyed silk fabric samples were evaluated by applying a reflective spectrophotometer. Also, the evaluation of wash and light fastness was done based on ISO standards. The results indicated that in all methods, the metal samples had higher color strength when compared to the bio-mordant ones. Among the used methods and bio-mordants, the use of the pre-mordanting method and pinecone led to the highest amount of color strength. Also, the used bio-mordant could be a suitable substitute for metal mordants in terms of fastness parameters. Among the used methods and mordants, the post-mordanting method and pinecone mordant could provide the best washing and light fastness., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Epichloe endophytes are symbiotic fungi which unlike mycorrhiza grow within aerial parts of host plants. The fungi may increase host tolerance to both biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, the effect of endophyte infection on growth and tolerance, carbohydrate contents and ABC (ABC transporter) and MET (metallothionein) expression in the leaves of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) plants cultivated in Ni polluted soil were evaluated. The endophyte infected (E+) and non-infected (E-) fescue plants were cultivated in soil under different Ni concentrations (30, 90 and 180mgkg(-1)). Growth parameters including root, shoot, total biomass, tiller number and total chlorophyll content of plants and H2O2 content of shoots were measured at the end of experiment. Ni translocation to the shoots, carbohydrate contents in roots and expression of ABC and MET of the leaves were also measured after 10 weeks of growth. Results demonstrated the beneficial effect of endophyte association on growth and Ni tolerance of tall fescue under Ni stress through an avoidance mechanism (reduction of Ni accumulation and translocation to the shoots). Endophyte infected plants showed less ABC and MET expression compared to the endophyte free plants. In endophyte free plants, H2O2 production had a significant positive correlation with genes expression, indicating that an increase in H2O2 might be involved in the up-regulation of ABC and MET under Ni stress., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)