CATIONIC VESICLE PRECURSORS AS RETARDING AND LEVELLING AGENTS FOR THE DYEING OF ACRYLIC FIBRES

The use of a double-tailed cationic surfactant as additive in the dyeing of polyacrylonitrile with cationic dyes is proposed. Single-tailed colorless cations usually compete with the dyes for the anionic sites within the fibre and at the fibre surface, thus retarding and giving levelness to the dyeings. A set of comparative tests has shown that di-methyl-di-dodecylammonium chloride (DDDAC) behaves better by far, as retarding and levelling agent, than commercially well known single-tailed cations.