Printing performances of a new nitrogen-free urea substitute in silk printing of reactive dyes

A new printing additive, GBPA, which is composed of glycerol and 1,4-butanediol, was used in silk printing with reactive dyes. The printing performance of GBPA in the reactive printing of silk fabrics was studied and compared with those of urea. The results showed that in deep printing of Reactive Turquoise K-GL on silk satin, GBPA obtained as stable a color performance as urea at dosages ranging from 8 wt% to 10 wt% in the printing paste. Using a range of thickeners, GBPA exhibited the same color level as urea when using sodium alginate as thickener. Using reactive blue dyes of various structures and reactive dyes of different colors, the color performance of GBPA was close or even superior to that of urea. Furthermore, GBPA achieved good printing performances on different silk fabrics. By using GBPA in reactive printing, the nitrogen content in the printing wastewater greatly reduced. GBPA has great application potential as an alternative to urea in silk printing with reactive dyes.