Experiment No: 01 Name of The Experiment: Study on chemical function required in various processes.

Introduction: Dyeing process of fabric requires various types of pre treatment, after treatment and many more process to successfully complete dyeing process and get desired coloration on fabric. Total process uses various chemicals and other auxiliaries which helps completing the task. It is very much important for us to know about different steps of dyeing process and the materials used for their individual purposes. At first all the processes are described bellow and materials needed for these processes will be discussed later. Scouring: The term scouring applies to the removal of impurities such as oil, wax, fats etc from textile materials. In other hand, scouring enables the textile material for more water permeability or the absorbency by removing those impurities as water is very much important factor in dyeing process. Scouring process is done by using a strong base like NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide). It reacts with fat/wax/oil and produce soap and glycerine which can be easily washed away later. It can be expressed as following reaction. NaOH + Fat/ Wax / Oil Soap + Glycerine Note: There is a problem in using NaOH. It is seen that generally 5 gm/l NaOH is applied to the fabric for scouring. But that amount of NaoH creates holes on fabric. Thats why the amount of NaOH should be reduced while keeping the necessary amount of base for reaction. For this reason Na2CO3 ( Sodium Carbonate) is mixed with NaOH in such a manner so that the total amount of basic compound may be 5 gm/l where the amount of NaOH is kept as low as possible. Here, Na2CO3 helps to keep the amount of basic compound for the reaction. However, this is optional element and used only wherever such conditions arrive. Bleaching: Bleaching is the process of imparting whiteness while destroying natural colors. Bleaching is done to produce uniform, stable, basic white for the goods which are to be dyed. This is important for materials as all the instructions or amount of materials needed for dying is tested at a laboratory first for achieving desired shade correctly and without wasting anything. All the tests done over a standard white fabric sample to give it desired shade. For this reason the recipe for that shade is based on a white fabric which makes it important for textile materials to go through bleaching process to achieve that standard whiteness over which the recipe is given.

Note: Bleaching time should be sufficient and the time should be maintained carefully. Otherwise H2O2 is divided into H+ and HO2- which tends to form O2 . This O2 reacts with fabric and thus it forms CHO and in further reaction COOH. When it forms COOH , it weakens the fabric. This is why the bleaching time as well as bleaching agent should be controlled. Enzyme Wash: After scouring and bleaching, the cellulosic goods (usually knit fabric) are treated with acetic acid for neutralization, then the fabric is treated with a suitable enzyme within a recommended conditions ( temperature, time, pH etc.) for polishing the fabric surface by removing the short and immature fibres from the substrate. This process can be applied before or after dyeing. But generally it is done before dyeing operation. Note: Enzyme is made of protein based living organisms. They eat up the hairy and immature fibres from the fabric surface. This is the reason why there is a weight loss seen after enzyme wash. If the time for enzyme wash is not controlled then these living organisms might create holes on fabric by eating fibres. Thats why after predetermined time or after achieving sufficient wash they must be killed which can be easily done by increasing temperature. A temperature of 75 C would do the task. Dyeing: Dyeing is the process of applying color to fiber, yarn or fabric, usually by immersing in a dye bath. Dyes are complex organic compound capable of imparting color to textile materials. Most of them are organic compounds. Note: There are different types of dyes available which are used as per need. Generally Basic dyes are applied on jute, Acid dye on wool, Reactive or Vat dyes on cotton and Disperse dye on manmade fibers. Washing: Washing is in fact finishing process of a dyeing process. It is done to remove all unnecessary materials as well as unfixed colors on fabric. We can only be sure if the color fastness of the fabric is good enough and also if the desired shade is achieved. Note: Washing must be done before deciding the achievement of desired shade. Unless it will be faulty as washing of that material may change the shade. If desired color is achieved before washing and after washing it gets lighter, then necessary treatment has to be done over that fabric to get desired shade which may also result in complete re-dyeing.

Different Special Materials Necessary for Different Processes: There are various types of chemicals and auxiliaries used during different processes. There are few special types of chemical and auxiliaries too which are used for special purposes. These are discussed bellow. Sequestering Agent: Sequestering agent is an auxiliary material which is used each time water is changed or taken during any process of dying. Basically it is seen in scouring. The main purpose of sequestering agent is to reduce hardness of water. Hard water creates scales on walls of boiler, pipes etc. and blocks the passage for water supply. This is a big problem, because slight change in scale thickness may cause in higher gas supply for heating in boiler which obviously increase cost. Sequestering agent helps to reduce such occurrence. It is seen that waters having hard water varies from place to place as well as season to season. Such as, waters in gazipur area are less harder and less hard water in summer where more harder water is found in winter. Quantity: 0.25 0.5 gm/l (appx.) Anti Creasing Agent: Textile materials go through many rollers at almost every stage of processing. Thats why the suffer heat variation, pressure variation etc. Shrinkage may also occur at any position. All these are very much responsible for crease mark on textile materials. Generally rollers create these marks due to various factors. It is seen that crease marks depend on the GSM of fabric. Fabrics with higher GSM are more exposed to creasing than lower GSM fabrics. As example we can say that single Jersey fabrics gets more crease marks than any rib fabric. Anti Creasing agent is used to prevent crease marks on fabric. It is also seen generally in scouring process. One brand of anti creasing agent is Biavin. Quantity: 0.3 0.75 gm/l (appx.) Bleaching Agent: Hydrogen per Oxide (H2O2) is known as the Bleaching agent. This is the main agent responsible for bleaching. H2O2 divides into H+ and HO2- and the HO2- is in fact completes bleaching by whitening. But it is very much unstable as it tends to form O 2 as soon as possible. These actions can be written as followsH2O2 H+ + HO2HO2- O2 + H+ Quantity: 0.5 6 gm/l (appx)

Stabilizer: Stabilizer is used during bleaching process. It has a very important purpose. As we have seen earlier that H2O2 divides into H+ and HO2- and the HO2- is in fact completes bleaching by whitening. But it is very much unstable as it tends to form O2 as soon as possible. The task of the stabilizer is to prevent HO2- from forming O2 in order to complete the task of bleaching. Stagen B is one type of stabilizer. Quantity: The quantity of stabilizer depends on the amount of H2O2 used in bleaching. However, it is seen that there is an approximate ratio between H2O2 and Stabilizer quantity which is 6 : 1 . Peroxide Killer: If bleaching time is more then it is hard to control O2 formation. This O2 formation is harmful for fabric. Because this tends to form CHO and COOH at further reactions. The formation of COOH weakens the fabric. This is why peroxide killer is used to control the O 2 formation. But water should be removed before applying peroxide killer. Generally applied for about 20 minutes. Quantity: 0.2 0.5 gm/l ( depends on the amount of H2O2 ) Leveling Agent: It is hard to get uniform dyeing on fabric which is totally unwanted. Here Leveling agent helps in uniform dyeing. Quantity: Few amount of leveling agent is supplied before adding dye solution to the dye bath and the remaining amount is added with the dye solution. Such process helps in better dyeing. Salt and Soda: In case of reactive dye, it becomes a part of fabric. Soda helps in doing this. Another purpose of using soda during dyeing is to control the pH. Anti Foaming Agent: Foams create during various stages of processing due to different chemical actions. Foam can be another factor for crease marks as they might block rollers in such a manner that the passing material may get stuck while being pulled on other side. To prevent this, anti foaming agent is used. Generally used in washing, but can be used as per need on other processes.

Cationic Fixing Agent: Cationic fixing agents are generally used after washing. It is seen that few colors continuously flow away when washed. Mostly Red and Turquish color show such nature. To prevent this, cationic fixing agent is used. They fix that color in such manner so that it cant go off the fabric due to consecutive washing. Quantity: 2 gm/l (appx.) Softener: Fabric goes through different chemicals, liquids, fluids, rollers, heat, pressure etc. This eventually makes the fabric more stiffer that it should be. Softener is used to reduce this stiffness. Generally applied after washing as an after treatment. The required pH is 4.5 with 40 C temperature. Quantity: 1.5 3 gm/l (appx.) Summary: We have discussed about different process and materials used in it. We can summarize all that in following table. Step Step Objective Chemical/Agents NaOH (Main Scouring Agent) Agent Objective Reacts with fat/wax/oil and create soap and glycerine which is easily removed later. Used optionally as an substitute base to reduce NaOH amount which may create hole on fabric if used too much. Reducing water hardness. Prevents crease marks. Divide into HO2- which bleaches fabric. Prevent unstable HO2from forming O2 in order to complete the task of bleaching Eat away hairy fibers from fabric surface.

Scouring

Removal of fat/wax/oil as well as other impurities.

Na2CO3 (Optional)

Sequestering Agent Anti Creasing Agent H2O2 (Main Bleaching Agent) Stabilizer

Bleaching

Destroys natural color of fabric and creating standard/extra whiteness.

Enzyme Wash

Remove hairiness of fabric

Enzymes

Dyeing

Coloration of fabric in order to gain desired shade.

Dye Sequestering Agent Anti creasing Agent Leveling Agent Anti Foaming Agent Cationic Agents

Washing

Removing unwanted or extra chemical, color etc. and After treatment.

Softener

Colors fabric. Reducing water hardness. Prevents crease marks Helps in uniform dyeing. Prevents foaming. Fixes color on fabric so that they have better wash fastness. Softens fabric.

Remarks: pH is an important factor throughout the whole process. Different process requires different pH levels. Such as bleaching needs a pH around 5 and enzyme wash requires about 4.5. In case of bleaching if pH remains at 10 11 then decay happens. So, pH must be controlled at each step carefully.