Chemical Modification of Cellulose and Polyester/Cellulose Blended Fabric to Make It Disperse Dyeable: A Sustainable Approach to Achieve Dyeing of P/C Blend with Disperse Dyes

An attempt was made to modify the cotton and polyester/cotton (P/C) fabric with a bi-functional cross-linking compound, hexamethylene diisocyanate, to covalently link the cellulosic part of the fabric with the selected disperse dyes. The chemical composition, morphology, and strength of the modified fabric were examined by ATR–FTIR, SEM–EDX, tensile strength testing, water absorbency test, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results verified the binding of the cross-linker with the cellulose fabric under neutral conditions. The cross-linked fibers were dyed with commercially available disperse dyes bearing amino and/or hydroxyl groups by using the pad–dry–cure dyeing method. The K/S values were measured to analyze the depth of shade on the modified fibers in comparison with the respective untreated dyed samples. The fastness properties of the dyed fabrics were studied by employing ISO standard protocols. It was observed that the modified fabrics have a good overall fastness.