Dyeing of polyester fabric with curcumin was studied at 90 and 130°C without and with a prior surface activation of polyester fabric using two different ecotechnologies: air atmospheric plasma treatment and ultraviolet excimer lamp at 172 nm. Without surface activation, dyeing with curcumin followed classical disperse dye behaviour, with higher dye uptake at 130°C than at 90°C, and saturation was readily reached at 2% dye owf at 130°C with a colour yield of 22. Surface-sorbed curcumin molecules extracted with ethanol seemed to increase the colour yield values at 90°C dyeing, while at 130°C they decreased the colour yield values. When dyeing was carried out after a prior surface activation of the polyester fabrics, increased colour yield was observed at both dyeing temperatures for the ultraviolet excimer lamp only (with colour yield increasing from 2 to 10 at 90°C and from 22 to 28 at 130°C for a 2% dye owf). Indeed, both surface activation methods yielded hydrophilic species at the polyester fabric fibre surface, which were confirmed by water contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and atomic force microscopy. However, the surface of the polyester fabric activated using plasma lost all of its hydrophilic species, reaching the water contact angle of untreated polyester when subjected to the dyeing conditions. The excimer treatment yields hydrophilic species that are more resistant to high temperature and pressure dyeing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.