Feasibility and Surface Evaluation of the Pigment from Scytalidium cuboideum for Inkjet Printing on Textiles

Textile inkjet printing is an increasingly popular process in the textile industry, as it allows for the incorporation of complex and detailed patterns onto fabrics, as well as the production of small and medium volumes of printed text. Unfortunately, most of the dyes used by the textile industry come from synthetic and/or non-renewable sources. There has been some research to date in using fungal pigments from wood rotting fungi (‘spalting’ fungi) as textile dyes, however these have never been tested in inkjet printing. Of particular interest is the red crystallizing pigment from Scytalidium cuboideum, which has previously shown exceptional stability on textiles. To test this pigment in an inkjet setting, cotton and polyester fabrics were printed with three different ink formulations involving the red pigment: hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), ethanol, and acetone. The CTAB and ethanol-based ink formulations formed a ‘mesh-like’ structure on the surface of the cotton and polyester fibers, and turned the fabric purple. Acetone formulas formed crystal structures on the surface and turned the fabric red. These results show promise for turning the red pigment of S. cuboideum into an environmentally friendly, inkjet colorant, however further research is required to evaluate the crocking and explain the crystallization differences between inks.