Sustainable Dyeing and Finishing of Cotton Fabrics with Layer-by-Layer Technique

Large amounts of water, synthetic dyestuffs and chemicals are used in the wet processes of textile finishing, and at the end of these processes, liquors containing chemical substances create a waste load. For this reason, it is of great importance to develop new wet-finishing processes that use less water, dyestuffs and chemicals. For this purpose, the layer-by-layer deposition method (LbL) was used in this research as an environmentally friendly, sustainable method that can be used in wet-finishing processes to minimize chemical, water and energy consumption. The dyeing and functional finishing of cotton fabrics were carried out in one process by the LbL method. Cotton fabrics were pre-treated with a commercial cationic dye fixation agent and cationic charges were produced on the fabric surfaces. Reactive and direct dyestuff groups were used in the dyeing process of cotton fabrics and fluorocarbon was used in the functional finishing process. Eight and 12 dye/fluorocarbon layered structures were obtained by LbL deposition using a laboratory-type padder. Cotton fabrics were dyed and finished with the same dyes and fluorocarbon via the padding method and both samples were compared. The washing, rubbing and light color fastness properties, color strength and color difference of the dyed samples were tested. Tensile strength, air permeability, SEM graphs, contact angle, water and oil repellency analyses were performed for the treated fabrics.