A new economical technique for dyeing polyamide fibre/nanoclay composite with basic dye

Purpose This work aims to increase the dyeability of nylon 6 with basic dyeing through the treatment of the fibre with available and cheap nanomaterials, namely; nano bentonite using an economic and simple method. Design/methodology/approach Different amounts of nano clay, namely, nano bentonite were dispersed in distilled water using an ultrasonic homogenizer for 1 h. Nylon fabrics were treated with different concentrations of dispersed nano bentonite (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% wt/v). After half an hour, the samples were padded using SVETEMA laboratory padding system. The padding pressure was adjusted at 3 bar to allow a pickup of 100%. The padded samples were dried at 80°C for 5 min and cured at 160°C for 3 min using ROACHES laboratory thermos-fixation. The cured samples were then washed with running water and left to dry at room temperature. Findings The obtained results indicated that the modification of polyamide 6 fibres with nano bentonite had a great impact on their dyeing properties. The obtained shades, absorption behaviour and fastness properties were significantly enhanced. Based on these results, it was concluded that polyamide fabrics could be successfully dyed with basic dyes using economical dyeing conditions. Originality/value This paper introduces a new method the loaded the nano-clay on the synthetic fibres, which are nylon 6 to enhance the dyeability with cationic dyes using the physical method without changing the structure of the fibres.