Sustainable Isolation and Application of Plant Extract-Based Natural Dye for Bio-Dyeing of Silk Fabric

Green products such as plant pigments are gaining fame globally due to their excellent ayurvedic and biological characteristics. In this study, microwave (M.W.) has been employed to isolate colourant from black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), and bio-mordants have been included to obtain colourfast shades. Central Composite design (CCD) was formulated under response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize dyeing variables statistically. The results obtained after a series of experiments show that using 35 mL of irradiated acidic extract (RE = 6 min) of (pH4) in the presence of 1 g/100 mL of table salt as an exhausting agent at 65 °C for 55 min has demonstrated excellent colour depth (K/S) onto microwave-treated silk fabric (RS = 6 min). By applying bio-mordants, it has been found that walnut extract (1.5%), pinenut hull extract (1%), and orange peel extract (1.5%) are there before dyeing. In contrast, walnut extract (1.5%), pinenut hull extract (1.5%), and orange peel extracts (1.5%) after dyeing have shown colourfast shades of high strength. Comparatively, salts of Al+3 (1.5%), salts of Fe+2 (1.5%), and T.A. (tannic acid = 1.5%) before dyeing, while salts of Al+3 (0.5%) and salts of Fe+2 (2%) and T.A. (Tannic acid = 1%) after dyeing, have given good results. It has been observed that the use of M.W. radiation has not only improved the yield of dyes extracted from leaves when applied to silk fabric but also the inclusion of the optimum amount of bio and chemical mordants have resulted in moderate to good and excellent colour fastness ratings.