Low-Salt or Salt-Free Dyeing of Cotton Fibers with Reactive Dyes using Liposomes as Dyeing/Level-Dyeing Promotors

The main aim of this investigation was to promote the dyeing and level-dyeing effect of reactive dyes on cotton-fiber dyeing by encapsulating reactive dyes in liposomes as an alternative to sodium chloride. The results obtained indicated that liposomes, especially cationic liposomes, have a remarkable level-dyeing promoting effect on cotton fibers, although the dyeing promoting effect was not as good as that of sodium chloride. The optimum dyeing and level-dyeing effects were achieved at a dye-fixing temperature of 85 °C, sodium carbonate concentration of 10 g/L and dye dosage of 2% (on the basis of oven-dry cotton fibers) when liposomes were used as the dyeing and level-dyeing promoters. The combination of cationic liposomes and sodium chloride can significantly promote both the dyeing and level-dyeing of cotton fibers. These results indicated the potential of cationic liposomes as novel dyeing and level-dyeing promoters or microencapsulated dye wall materials for reactive-dye dyeing applications.