Level dyeing property and aggregation morphology of reactive black 5 on cotton fabric in a salt-free and less-water dyeing system

In a traditional water-based dyeing system, large amounts of salts and water are consumed. However, a non-aqueous media dyeing system achieves salt-free and less-water dyeing. In a non-aqueous media dyeing system, a small amount of water is used, which may affect the aggregation morphology of the dyes. The molecular dynamics of reactive dyes on the surface of cotton fibers were investigated. The results showed that the color depth of dyed cotton fabric did not change much when the dosage of salt was below 5.2% o.w.f. However, continuing to increase the amount of salt could influence the dyeing level of dyed fabric. The diffusion coefficient of dye was 0.3044 × 10−5 cm−2/s when there was no salt in dyeing system. But it was decreased by 14.03% and 16.62% when the salt concentration was increased from zero to 5.2% and 13% o.w.f., respectively. When the concentration of sodium sulfate was zero, the dye molecules in the solution displayed in the form of unimolecular molecules and dimers. However, reactive dyes mainly existed in the form of trimers and polymers when the concentration of sodium sulfate was above 5.2%. When there was no salt in the less-water dyeing system, the van der Waal energy between fiber and dye was 131.29 kJ/mol, but it was increased to 382.92 kJ/mol when the dosage of sodium sulfate was 5.2%. Therefore, with the increase of sodium sulfate dosage, the color depth of the dyed fabric changed little, but the level of dyeing property became poorer.