LEVELLING AND RETARDING AGENTS

Spring 2010

Categories
1- Gross unlevelness throughout the material: this type of unlevelness is primarily related to the dyeing equipment or process; the substrate is often uniform in properties, both chemically and physically

(2) Localised unlevelness: this is primarily related to physical and/or chemical nonuniformity of the substrate; typical examples are barriness in nylon or polyester dyeing and skitteriness in wool dyeing.

Two mechanisms
1) Control of rate of exhaustion of dye so that it is taken up evenly 2) Migration of dye after initially unlevel sorption on the fibre.

This process is happening all the time either both or separately To achieve better fastness properties these agents are used with the dyes which show low migration = more emphasis on control of exhaustion rate

Factors
Physical factors such as temperature and frequency of liquor/substrate contact (governed by rate of liquor circulation in a jet, beam or package machine) can be used to exert some degree of control over these mechanisms.

Slower rates of heating usually favour more even uptake of dye and higher temperatures tend to increase migration or diffusion. In some cases level dyeing can be influenced by dyebath pH and/or the presence of electrolytes.

What are they??

Basically they are surfactants Chemical nature :anionic, cationic, nonionic or amphoteric in nature Sometimes combinations are used

Main mechanism operations

(a) nonionic agents usually form watersoluble complexes with the dye, some degree of solubilisation being involved (b) ionic agents are primarily dye- or fibresubstantive; in the former case they tend to form complexes with the dye and there is competition between the levelling agent and the fibre for the dye, while in the latter case the competition is between levelling agent and the dye for the fibre.

The attractive forces between agent and dye create a counterbalancing mechanism against dyefibre attractive forces, restraining the uptake of dye by the fibre. As the temperature of the dyebath increases the complex gradually breaks down, progressively releasing the dye for more gradual sorption by the fibre.

Pros and cons

If these forces are so weak that a relatively unstable complex is formed, restraining or levelling action may be inadequate. On the other hand, strong forces of attraction may result in a complex that is too stable to break down as the temperature rises, so that the dye is effectively entrapped by the agent in the solution phase and is not available for sorption by the fibre

The objective therefore is to formulate the levelling agent so that it forms a dye complex of optimum, rather than maximum, stability relative to the conditions of application. This is done by adjusting the hydrophilic lipophilic balance of the surfactant

Ionic Difficulty
they may form an insoluble precipitate with ionic dyes of opposite charge; Case-1 attention should be paid to the concentration of the surfactant; where initial addition of surfactant to the dyebath causes precipitation of the agentdye complex, Case-2 further additions of surfactant often lead to its solubilisation.

Other uses
Many, but not all, levelling agents promote migration of dye in addition to retarding dyeing, such agents will obviously be a further aid to level dyeing. Levelling agents are also widely used as stripping agents, either alone for nondestructive desorption or together with reducing agents such as sodium dithionite for destructive stripping