Pad dyeing of cellulose acetate nanofibres with disperse dyes

In addition to a number of applications of nanofibres in technical fields such as medical, filtration and biosensing, nanofibres are recently being widely explored in terms of apparel use. Past work has focused on the functional properties of nanofibres for apparel use. Coloured nanofibres were produced to investigate their aesthetic properties for the potential application to apparel. Webs of cellulose acetate nanofibre were electrospun and dyed with a high energy level CI Disperse Red 167:1 dye and a low energy level CI Disperse Blue 56 dye using the continuous pad–dry–bake method. Results revealed that the high energy level dye produced better colour yield than the lower energy level dye. The dyed cellulose acetate nanofibres produced acceptable colorimetric values, colour yield and colour fastness. Young’s modulus of dyed nanofibres increased by threefold in comparison to the undyed cellulose acetate nanofibres. Scanning electron microscopy images showed good morphology with the smooth surface of the dyed cellulose acetate nanofibres.