Enhancement of Cotton and Cotton / Wool Blend Dyeability by Microwave Heating

The dyeing of cotton and cotton/wool blend fabric by using reactive dyes has been studied with both conventional heating and microwave irradiation. The effects of the dye bath pH, microwave power, dyeing time and dye concentration are studied and the resulting shades obtained by dyeing through microwave and conventional techniques are compared. The results of the dyed samples indicate that microwave irradiation is more effective than conventional heating. Color strength values obtained are found to be higher by microwave irradiation. The results of the fastness properties of the dyed fabric are good to very good. The dyeing kinetics of cotton and cotton/wool blend fabrics are also compared by using the two methods. The values of the dyeing rate constant, half dyeing time ( t 1/2 ), stander affinity and microwave efficiency are calculated and discussed. The physical properties of the samples are studied before and after exposure to microwave irradiation by a scanning electron microscope and an x- ray analysis.