Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Dyes and Pigments

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dyepig

Surface chemical analysis of the effect of curing conditions on the

properties of thermally-cured pigment printed poly (lactic acid)
fabrics
Mohammad Nazmul Karim a, *, Muriel Rigout a, Stephen G. Yeates b, Chris Carr c
a
School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
b
School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
c
School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Colouration of poly (lactic acid) textile materials using pigments is particularly interesting because of the
Received 18 October 2013 commercial importance of pigment prints and the sensitivity of poly (lactic acid) fibres to aqueous
Received in revised form treatment; however the processing requires optimisation because of the fibre’s heat sensitivity. In this
3 December 2013
study, poly (lactic acid) fabrics were screen pigment printed and thermally cured at different tempera-
Accepted 9 December 2013
Available online 18 December 2013
tures, ranging from 120
C to 150
C, and curing times, from 3 min to 5 min. Surface sensitive X-ray
Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to probe the nature of the outer 1e10 nm of the untreated
and heat treated poly (lactic acid) surfaces, in order to characterise the surface functionalities and
Keywords:
Poly (lactic acid) fabrics
elemental composition. In addition, the effect of curing temperature and time on the performance
Pigment printing characteristics of pigment printed poly (lactic acid) fabrics in terms of colour fastness, burst strength,
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) abrasion resistance, Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) parameters and surface morphology
Burst strength were evaluated and optimum curing conditions for the pigment printing of poly (lactic acid) fabrics were
Colour fastness established.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Crown Copyright Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a versatile, biodegradable, aliphatic
thermoplastic polyester which can be derived from 100% renew-
able sources, such as corn and sugar beets [1]. Polyesters, mainly
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are used extensively in apparel
manufacturing and account for almost 40% of world textile con-
sumption. The uses of polyesters are increasing rapidly; however,
fossil fuels consumption in the PET manufacturing process and its
relatively non-biodegradable nature have been growing environ-
mental concerns. As the world is becoming increasingly sensitive to
the protection of the environment, there has been growing interest
in using biodegradable materials such as PLA [2].
More than 50% of the total global printed textiles are processed
by pigment printing, and it is the single most important and widely
used printing method for textile materials because of its simplicity,
relatively “clean” processing, and environmentally friendly aspects
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mdnazmul.karim@manchester.ac.uk, mdnazmul.karim@
yahoo.com (M.N. Karim).
[3]. Moreover, there are some distinctive advantages of this tech-
nology, such as the quality of prints, ability to apply on most types
of fibres and no washing off requirements after printing, which
have made this technology very attractive to textile manufacturers
[4]. Unlike dyes that are absorbed into the fibres and fixed through
interactions or reactions specific to the dyes, insoluble pigments do
not have any affinity for the fibres. They are attached by being
incorporated into a film of a suitable binding agent on the surface of
the fabrics and being fixed after printing at a suitable curing tem-
perature. The paste for pigment printing typically consists of
pigment, binder, synthetic thickener and other printing auxiliaries.
Thermal energy initiates cross-linking of the binder at a suitable
curing temperature, which binds the pigment particles onto the
fibre surface [4,5]. Although pigment printing has been used
widely, some limitations still exist with this method such as high
temperature curing, relatively stiff handle and poor rubbing fast-
ness. Accordingly there has been growing interest to reduce the
curing temperature of pigment printing not only to save on energy
costs but also to lessen the damage of fabrics [6].
PLA fabrics can be processed in a similar way to PET fibres using
conventional dyeing and printing methods; however, the process-
ing temperatures need to be reduced as PLA has a lower melting

0143-7208/$ e see front matter Crown Copyright Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2013.12.010
 M.N. Karim et al. / Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174
point (130e175
C) than that of PET (254e260
C) [7,8]. Moreover, a
modified dyeing method is required to dye PLA fabrics as it has low
affinity for conventional water soluble dyes [9]. In this study, the
effect of thermal curing conditions on the properties of pigment
printed PLA and their chemical and physical effect on the outer
surface of the printed PLA fabrics was investigated. The surface
sensitive X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) technique was
used to probe the nature of the outer 1e10 nm of the untreated and
heat treated PLA surface, in order to characterise the surface
functionalities and elemental composition and identify optimum
curing conditions for pigment printing of PLA fabrics. The prints
produced using different curing parameters, such as temperature
and time, were assessed in terms of colour fastness, burst strength,
abrasion resistance and the KES-F mechanical properties of the
fabrics.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
In this investigation, 100% PLA single jersey knit pique fabric,
268 g/m2, purchased from Valuable Enterprise, Taiwan, was
scoured at 60
C for 20 min in a solution containing 2 g/L soda ash
and 0.5 g/L Kieralon Jet B Conc [7] and air dried. Lyoprint PBA, a self-
cross-linking acrylic binder, Lyoprint PTF, an acrylic polymer
thickener and Lyoprint PFL, a methylol-melamine fixing agent were
supplied by Huntsman, USA. 38% ammonia was supplied by Fisher
Scientific and Minerprint Red BTL was supplied by Quality Colours,
London, UK.
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Pigment print paste preparation and printing
To prepare the print paste, 5 g/kg 38% ammonia was added to
deionised water and Lyoprint PBA binder was added to that solu-
tion as required depending on amount of pigments to be used, as
shown Table 1. Lyoprint PFL (10 g/kg) was then mixed into the
formulation and the solutions were stirred for 5 min. Finally, 15 g/
kg Lyoprint PTF was added to the mixture and the required vis-
cosity of print paste was achieved by stirring for 10e15 min using a
high speed automatic stirrer. Minerprint Red BTL pigment was
added to print paste to give a pigment content of 7.5 g/kg, 15 g/kg
and 30 g/kg as required, and stirred vigorously to ensure homo-
geneous mixing of the colours with the print paste. The pH of the
print paste was maintained in the range of 7e7.5.
Pigment printing onto PLA fabrics was carried out using a hand
screen of 62/cm mesh and 10 mm squeegee diameter; all the
samples were dried at 90
C for 5 min using a Werner Mathis
laboratory dryer. The pigments were fixed onto the fibres using
curing temperatures, ranging from 120
C to 150
C, and curing
times, from 3 min to 5 min. The fabric samples for XPS analysis
were printed as described but using the print paste for 3% shade
with the pigment addition omitted.
Table 1
Printing paste composition for pigment printing of PLA.
Pigments and chemicals Formulation compositions
0.75% 1.5%
Minerprint Red BTL (g/kg) 7.5 15
Lyoprint PBA (g/kg) 60 100
Lyoprint PFL (g/kg) 10 10
Lyoprint PTF (g/kg) 15 15
Ammonia (g/kg) 5 5
169
2.2.2. XPS analysis
A Kratos Axis system spectrophotometer was used to perform the
XPS analysis. The fabric samples were cut from the middle of the
specimen and attached to the sample holder using a double sided tape.
The samples were irradiated using monochromatic Al Ka X-rays
(1486.6 eV) with a power of 150 W and wide scan spectra were
recorded with pass energy of 160 eV from which the surface compo-
sition (C, O and N) was determined. High resolution Carbon (1s) and
Oxygen (1s) spectra were recorded with pass energy of 40 eV and the
binding energy (BE) values were calculated relative to the Carbon (1s)
photoelectron peak at 285.0 eV. All samples were analysed in dupli-
cate and data analysed using the CASA XPS software [10].
2.2.3. Colour fastness measurement
Colour fastness to washing was carried out according to BS EN
ISO 105 C06 C2S, by treating the printed fabrics in a solution con-
taining 4 g/L ECE detergent with 1 g/L sodium perborate and 25
stainless steel balls, adjusted to pH 10.5, at 60
C for 30 min. The
fabrics were rinsed subsequently in running water at ambient
temperature and air dried at room temperature prior to colour
analysis. SDC multi-fibre fabrics were used as adjacent fabrics in
this test [11].
The colour fastness to rubbing of printed fabrics, both dry and
wet rubbing, was measured according to the BS EN ISO 105-
X12:2002 test method using a crock meter.
The colour fastness to light was measured following the BS EN
ISO 105-B01:1999 test method and graded on 1e5 after the expo-
sure of test samples to simulated day-light using Xenon Light
fastness tester.
2.2.4. Measurement of colour strength (K/S) and colour difference
(DE)
The colour strength (K/S) was calculated from reflectance
measurements using the KubelkaeMunk equation (equation (1)):
(K/S)l ¼ (1  Rl)2/2Rl (1)
where K is the absorption co-efficient, S is the scatter co-efficient
and R is the reflectance expressed as a fractional value at wave-
length lmax. A Datacolor Spectroflash 600 was used to measure K/S
and CIE L*a*b* values and the mean value was calculated from the
average of four measurements. Colour measurements were taken
before and after washing of printed samples and colour difference
values were also noted.
2.2.5. Measurement of burst strength
The burst strength of the pigment printed samples was
measured using a TruBurst Burst Strength Tester Model 500/610
according to BS EN ISO 13938-2:1999. The area of the samples to be
tested was clamped over an elastic diaphragm and an increased air
pressure was applied to the underside of the diaphragm until the
specimen burst. The pressure required to rupture the PLA samples
was taken as the burst strength. Six measurements were taken per
sample and the mean value was calculated from the average of
these six measurements.
2.2.6. Measurement of flat abrasion resistance
The Martindale abrasion tester was used to measure the flat
abrasion resistance of pigment printed fabrics according to the BS
3% EN ISO 12947-2:1999 procedure. Four circular specimens were cut
30 from each fabric and placed in the specimen holders and were
130 rubbed against an abrasive media under a 12 KPa load. The abrasion
10 resistance of those specimen fabrics were determined from the
15 number of cycles to the breakdown of single yarn in a specimen,
5
and the mean value was calculated from four measurements.
170 M.N. Karim et al. / Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174

2.2.7. Kawabata Evaluation System Table 2

The Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) was used to Surface Atomic composition (%) of untreated and heat cured printed PLA fabrics.

determine the mechanical and surface properties of unprinted Fabric Cure temperature Cure time Atomic composition (%)
(control) and 3% pigment printed PLA fabrics. The samples (
C) (Min)
C (1s) O (1s) N (1s)
(20  20 cm) were conditioned for 24 h at 20
C and 65% relative
Untreated e e 67.3 32.7 e
humidity prior to analysis. Tensile, shear, bending, surface,
Untreated 150 5 64.5 35.5 e
compression were measured and Koshi hand values calculated Untreated 150 10 64.1 35.9 e
using the Knit outerwear winter dress (KN-402-KT) mathematical Printed 120 3 77.1 18.6 4.3
transformation equation. Printed 120 5 75.0 21.1 3.9
Printed 130 3 76.4 20.5 3.1
Printed 130 5 74.7 21.9 3.4
2.2.8. Surface topography Printed 140 3 75.3 21.4 3.3
The surface topography of untreated and pigment printed PLA Printed 140 5 74.2 22.9 3.0
Printed 150 3 73.1 23.7 3.2
fabrics (before and after a 5A wash) was analysed using a Philips XL
Printed 150 5 73.9 21.4 3.6
30 field emission scanning electron microscope. The samples were
fixed horizontally on to stubs and gold coated in order to prevent
accumulation of electric charging on the sample during analysis. addition the etherified methylol-melamine cross-linker would also
The main SEM parameters were: working voltage 5 kV; spot size 2; have increased the relative carbon content at the surface interface.
working distance 9e12 mm; magnification 100e4000. However the relative amount of surface carbon of treated PLA
decreased as the curing temperature increased probably because of
3. Results and discussion the breakage of CeC polymer backbone and the formation of oxi-
dised carbon species, in particular carboxyl functionalities, Tables 2
3.1. XPS analysis and 3.
Considering the chemical formula of PLA, it was expected that
The presence of carbon and oxygen and the absence of nitrogen three carbon (1s) photoelectron peaks assigned to CeH at 284.8 eV,
were observed in the wide scan XP spectrum of the untreated PLA CeO at 286.8 eV, OeC]O at 288.9 eV would be observed and two
fabrics, Fig. 1 and Table 2. However, after printing the PLA fabric oxygen (1s) peaks assigned to O]C at 532.3 eV and OeC at 533.6 eV
with the acrylate-based paste and subsequent heat treatment at would be present [12]. The deconvolution analysis of the C(1s) XP
different curing temperatures, nitrogen was introduced into the spectrum of untreated PLA in this study indicates the presence of
surface interface, Fig. 2. The source of nitrogen could either be from three carbon C(1s) peaks at 284.9 eV, 286.8 eV, and 289.1 eV which
liquor ammonia or more likely the Lyoprint PFL, an etherified may be respectively assigned to CeH, CeOeC/CeOH and OeC]O
methylol-melamine compound added to the print paste to promote as shown in Fig. 3(a). No additional peaks appeared upon applica-
cross-linking. N-methylol groups can react with the groups in the tion of binder and heat, Fig. 3(b); however, the relative CeH content
binder or with the fibre as well as with other chemicals of the paste increased significantly after treatment, Table 3. Examination of the
leading to improve adhesion of the film [4]. The wide scan spec- C(1s) XP spectrum of the unprinted PLA fabric heated at 150
C for
trum of just heat treated unprinted PLA also indicates the absence 10 min shows the amount of higher binding energy species at
of nitrogen at the fibre surface, Table 2, further confirming that the 289.0 eV increased relative to the unheated PLA due to chain scis-
source of nitrogen is from the print paste. sion and oxidation, Fig. 3(c).
Examination of the wide scan XP spectrum of printed PLA in-
dicates a higher amount of carbon in the surface composition of 3.2. Colour analysis
printed PLA relative to that of untreated PLA, Table 2. This is
perhaps unsurprising as the print paste applied consists of rela- The colour fastness to washing and light of thermallyecured
tively carbon-rich acrylates which have a higher proportion of 0.75%, 1.5% and 3% pigment printed PLA samples, prepared at
carbon in the polymer backbone relative to the untreated PLA. In different curing temperature and times are shown in Table 4. It was

O1s
Relative Intensity (cps)

Relative Intensity (cps)

O1s
C1s

C1s

N1s

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Binding Energy (eV) Binding Energy (eV)

Fig. 1. XPS spectrum of untreated PLA fabric. Fig. 2. XPS spectrum of printed PLA fabric cured at 150
C for 3 min.
 M.N. Karim et al. / Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174 171

Table 3
Effect of curing temperature on the XP C(1s) species concentrations at the surface of C-H
untreated and printed PLA fabrics. C-O-C/C-OH
Fabric Cure temp Cure time C (1s) species (%)
(
C) (min) O-C=O
CeH CeO OeC]O

Untreated e e 39.0 33.8 27.2

Untreated 150 5 41.7 29.5 28.8
Untreated 150 10 40.7 30.1 29.2
Printed 120 3 62.5 24.6 13.2
Printed 120 5 58.4 25.7 15.9
Printed 130 3 69.3 16.5 14.2
Printed 130 5 50.9 32.8 16.3
Printed 140 3 63.1 20.5 16.4
Printed 140 5 61.9 20.2 17.8
Printed 150 3 60.8 21.3 17.9
Printed 150 5 63.6 19.4 17.0

reported that pigment prints on textiles typically provide excellent

colour fastness to light and good general fastness properties [4].
282 284 286 288 290 292
Similarly in this study, excellent light fastness was observed for all
three concentrations of pigments evaluated and good wash fastness Binding Energy (eV)
was achieved with 0.75% and 1.5% pigment levels. However, for the
3% pigment concentration, colour fastness of the printed fabric
improved to commercial acceptability at 140
C curing. The likely C-H
reason was that the higher concentration of binder and pigments in
the printing paste required higher fixation temperature and time to
cross-link and bond with PLA fibres [13].
One of the main disadvantages of pigment printing is the rela-
tively poor rubbing fastness, in particular wet rubbing [14]. The
rubbing fastness of pigment prints depend on binder elasticity,
adhesion of pigments to the fibre and good dispersion of pigments
in the print paste. Better fastness to rubbing can be achieved by C-O-C/C-OH
O-C=O
forming three dimensional binder films at higher fixation tem-
peratures, which allows the pigment/binder system to cross-link
with fibres and become covalently fixed [4]. Good dry rubbing
performance was obtained for 0.75% and 1.5% pigment shades at all
curing temperatures from 120 to 150
C and curing times from 3 to
5 min. In contrast wet rubbing fastness was relatively worse and
commercially acceptable wet rubbing performance was obtained at
curing temperatures of 140
C or above and curing times of 3 min or
282 284 286 288 290 292
more, in particular for the higher 3% pigment application.
Binding Energy (eV)

3.3. Burst strength

C-H
The burst strength of printed PLA fabrics, Fig. 4, increased with
the application of the pigment print onto the fabrics; however, C-O-C/C-OH
subsequently decreased with the increase of curing temperature O-C=O
due to likely increased brittleness of the three dimensionally linked
fabric/binder structure. The application of print paste containing
acrylic binder onto PLA fabrics results in the formation of a binder
film on the surface of the fibres after drying/curing [5], which
contributes to the increase in the burst strength. The burst strength
of the 3% pigment printed fabrics, which contained the highest
amount of binder, was found to be greater than that of the others,
again reflecting the importance of the binder strength and
flexibility.
PLA fibres have relatively low melting point and are sensitive to
heat treatment [15]. Therefore, it is likely that the degradation of
the PLA polymer and increased cross-linking and brittleness of the
cured binder results in the burst strength of pigment printed
samples decreasing with the increase of curing temperature and 282 284 286 288 290 292
time. Yang and Sun [16] found that the temperature and heating Binding Energy (eV)
time had a significant effect on the mechanical properties of PLA
fibres and the strength of PLA reduced significantly with heat Fig. 3. C(1s) XP spectra of (a) Untreated PLA; (b) Printed PLA cured at 140
C for 3 min;
(c) Unprinted PLA cured at 150
C for 10 min.
treatments higher than 130
C.
172 M.N. Karim et al. / Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174

Table 4
Colour fastness properties of pigment printed PLA fabrics at different curing temperatures and times.

Curing time Curing temp Wash fastness Dry rubbing Wet rubbing Light fastness
(min) (
C)
0.75% 1.5% 3% 0.75% 1.5% 3% 0.75% 1.5% 3% 0.75% 1.5% 3%

3 120 3e4 4e5 2e3 4e5 4 3e4 3 3 2e3 5 5 5

130 4 4e5 3e4 4e5 4 3e4 3 3 2e3 5 5 5
140 4e5 4e5 4 4e5 4 3e4 3e4 3e4 3 5 5 5
150 4e5 4e5 4 4e5 4 3e4 3e4 3e4 3 5 5 5
5 120 4 4e5 3 4e5 4 3e4 3 3 3 5 5 5
130 4e5 4e5 3e4 4e5 4 3e4 3 3 3 5 5 5
140 4e5 4e5 4 4e5 4 3e4 3e4 3e4 3 5 5 5
150 4e5 5 4e5 4e5 4 3e4 3e4 3e4 3e4 5 5 5

Table 5
Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) analysis of 3% pigment printed PLA
fabrics.

Curing Curing Extensibility Bending Shear 2HG Koshi

time Temp EMT (%) rigidity, B rigidity, G (g/cm)
(min) (
C) (g cm/cm2) (g/cm deg)

Untreated Untreated 11.76 0.03 0.67 3.28 1.12

3 120 5.69 0.21 1.31 3.76 5.11
130 4.90 0.28 1.74 4.40 6.38
140 2.63 0.40 2.39 5.06 6.19
150 1.40 e 4.05 7.42 8.80
5 120 5.57 0.22 1.47 3.79 5.42
130 4.32 0.23 1.95 4.50 6.41
140 2.88 0.45 2.17 5.56 7.63
150 1.28 e 4.49 7.72 9.00

Fig. 4. Effect of curing temperature and time on the burst strength of pigment printed
PLA fabrics.
3.4. Abrasion resistance
PLA fibres have relatively poor abrasion resistance, which has
limited their use in performance apparel applications [17]. In this
study, the abrasion resistance of pigment printed PLA, illustrated in
Fig. 5, was found to be higher than that of the control unprinted PLA
after 3 and 5 min curing time, and increased significantly with the
increase of curing temperature. It is suggested that the higher
curing temperature and longer curing time resulted in the pigment
print binder being better cross-linked and fixed on the PLA fibres,
which resulted in increased inter-fibre bonding and the binder on
the printed PLA being more resistant to abrasion [4,18].
3.5. Kawabata analysis
The Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics was used to
determine the mechanical properties of 3% pigment printed PLA
fabrics, Table 5. The extensibility of the printed PLA fabric was
reduced by almost 50% of that of untreated control PLA after
pigment printing and continued to decrease with the increase of
curing temperature. It is probable that the degree of cross-linking
and associated rigid inter-fibre bonding also increased with the
rise in curing temperature, thus limiting the extensibility of printed
fabrics [4]. Moreover, bending rigidity and shear rigidity also
increased rapidly with the application of the pigment print, and
similarly increased further as the curing temperature increased.
The overall Koshi primary hand value (i.e. stiffness) of the untreated
PLA was relatively low; however, it also increased significantly with
the application of print paste and the concomitant increase in
curing temperature. One of the recognised disadvantages of
pigment printing is the harsher and stiffer hand feel because of the
large particle size of the binder and pigments used and the cross-
linked binder introducing rigidity through inter-fibre bonding
[19]. Typically in commercial applications softeners are

Fig. 5. Effect of curing temperature and time on the abrasion resistance of pigment
printed PLA fabrics. Fig. 6. SEM micrograph of untreated PLA fabric. Magnification  2000.
 M.N. Karim et al. / Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174 173

Fig. 7. SEM micrograph of 3% pigment printed PLA fabric cured at 120
C for 3 min. Fig. 9. SEM micrograph of 3% pigment printed PLA fabric cured at 140
C for 3 min.
Magnification  2000. Magnification  2000.

incorporated into formulation to mitigate against this observed

increased stiffness but in this study the focus was just on the effect
of print processing on the base material.

3.6. Surface topography

The SEM micrographs of the untreated and printed PLA fabrics

at different magnifications are shown in Figs. 6e10. The SEM mi-
crographs of the 3% pigment printed fabrics cured for 3 min at
120
C, 130
C, 140
C and 150
C clearly show the presence of the
print paste coating on the surface of the fibre. In addition although
inter-fibre bonding was observed with all the samples, greater
inter-fibre bonding occurred at higher temperatures resulting in
the observed increased fabric rigidity. However the surface film
appeared more fractured for the fabrics cured at 150
C, Fig. 10.

4. Conclusions

The surface chemical analysis of untreated and printed PLA Fig. 10. SEM micrograph of 3% pigment printed PLA fabric cured at 150
C for 3 min.
fabrics indicated the presence of nitrogen, in addition to carbon and Magnification  2000.

oxygen, on the surface of printed PLA fabrics, which can be assigned

to the print paste formulation. Moreover, deconvolution analysis of
extended heating at elevated temperature an increase in carbox-
C (1s) XP spectrum of the PLA fabric demonstrated the presence of
ylate species was observed. This oxidation may indicate that the
CeH, CeOeC and OeC]O surface functionalities and that with
PLA fibre is being damaged at higher curing temperatures and this
is reflected in the observed reduction in the burst strength of the
printed fabrics at 150
C.
The SEM study of the effect of curing time and temperature on
the pigment printed PLA showed that higher curing temperatures
and times enabled the formation of a more cohesive binder film on
the fibres, which consequently improved the colour fastness to
rubbing and abrasion resistance of the printed fabrics. The wet
rubbing fastness in particular benefited from higher curing tem-
peratures due to better cross-linking and strength in binder
coating. In addition the stiffness of the pigment printed PLA fabrics
increased with higher curing temperature and time similarly due to
the increased binder cross-linking and rigidity. Through this study,
it was possible to identify the optimum curing conditions for
pigment printing of PLA in terms of colour fastness and strength, as
140
C for 3 min.

Acknowledgements

Fig. 8. SEM micrograph of 3% pigment printed PLA fabric cured at 130
C for 3 min. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the
Magnification  2000. University Of Manchester ‘Research Impact Scholarship’
174 M.N. Karim et al. / Dyes and Pigments 103 (2014) 168e174
Programme and would like to thank Dr Christopher Wilkinson, Ms
Alison Harvey and Mr Phillip Cohen for their technical support with
SEM, XPS and Kawabata analysis, and pigment printing.
References
[1] Drumright RE, Gruber PR, Henton DE. Polylactic acid technology. Adv Mater
2000;12(23):1841e6.
[2] Farrington DW, Lunt J, Davies S, Blackburn RS, editors. Poly (lactic acid) fibers.
Biodegradable and sustainable fibres. Cambridge, England: Woodhead Pub-
lishing; 2005. pp. 191e220.
[3] Dawson T, Hawkyard C. A new millennium of textile printing. Rev Prog Color
Relat Top 2000;30(1):7e20.
[4] Miles LWC. Textile printing. Revised 2nd ed. Bradford, UK: SDC; 2010.
[5] Broadbent AD. Basic principles of textile coloration. Bradford, UK: SDC; 2001.
[6] Tabba AH, Hauser P. Effect of cationic pretreatment on pigment printing of
cotton fabric. Text Chem Color Am Dyest Report 2000;32(2):30e3.
[7] Avinc O, Khoddami A. Overview of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibre. Fibre Chem
2009;41(6):391e401.
[8] Avinc O, Khoddami A. Overview of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibre. Fibre Chem
2010;42(1):68e78.
[9] Sawada K, Ueda M. Optimization of dyeing poly(lactic acid) fibers with vat
dyes. Dye Pigment 2007;74(1):81e4.
[10] Walton J, Wincott P, Fairley N, Carrick A. Peak fitting with casaXPS: a casa
pocket book; 2010.
[11] BSI, BS EN ISO 105eC06:2010 textiles. Tests for colour fastness. Colour fast-
ness to domestic and commercial laundering; 2010. London, UK.
[12] Chung S, Gamcsik MP, King MW. Novel scaffold design with multi-grooved
PLA fibers. Biomed Mater 2011;6(4):045001.
[13] Patel D. Synthetic binders for pigment printing. Pigment printing handbook.
Research Triangle Park, NC: AATCC; 1995. pp. 63e96.
[14] El-Molla M. Synthesis of polyurethane acrylate oligomers as aqueous UV-
curable binder for inks of ink jet in textile printing and pigment dyeing.
Dye Pigment 2007;74(2):371e9.
[15] Reddy N, Nama D, Yang Y. Polylactic acid/polypropylene polyblend fibers for
better resistance to degradation. Polym Degrad Stab 2008;93(1):233e41.
[16] Yang QB, Sun YJ. The mechanical property of PLA fibers under heat treatment.
Adv Mater Res 2011;321:184e7.
[17] Dugan JS. Novel properties of PLA fibers. Int Nonwovens J 2001;10(3):29e33.
[18] Mondal S, Gupta B, Singh H. Coating of polypropylene nonwovens with acrylic
copolymers. J Ind Text 2003;33(1):33e41.
[19] Wang KKK. Pigment printing process and related fabrics. US Patent 2009/
0226681 A1, Sep. 10, 2009.