Improvement of the levelness of viscose-cotton blended fabric dyed with reactive dye using low-temperature air plasma.

Uneven dyeing results from the different ways the fibers in a blended fabric made of viscose and cotton (50/50) absorb reactive dyes. Measuring the color levelness continues to be an obstacle for dyers. In the present study, several color levelness measurements are analyzed in particular. In addition, the functional group on the outer structure of the viscose-cotton blended fabric has been developed using air plasma to enhance the color intensity. The blended fabric was exposed to an air-based plasma treatment at an atmospheric pressure of 0.15 Tor for varying durations (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min). Furthermore, the existence of the functional groups in the blended fabrics treated with plasma (-OH, -COOH) was examined by FT-IR analysis. SEM and an optical microscope confirmed that the blended fabric had undergone surface deformation due to plasma treatment. The hydrophilicity of the Viscose-Cotton blended fabric was enhanced by plasma treatment and consequently, the maximum dye exhaustion of 85% (C.I. Reactive Red 195) and 65% (C.I. Reactive Blue 21) was reached. The degree of color levelness was determined through extensive experimental tests using an instrumental method and color difference (ΔE) data. Additionally, utilizing the image J software enabling the analysis of images, the levelness of colored blended fabric was further measured. The levelness values for the untreated viscose-cotton blended fabric dyed with C.I. Reactive Red 195 and C.I. Reactive Blue 21 were 4.11 and 4.26, respectively. After 6 min of plasma treatment, the viscose-cotton (50/50) blended fabric exhibited excellent levelness with values between 4.94 and 4.91. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]