SILK DYEING

By
M. RAMAMOORTHY
2005 TTE 2656
INTRODUCTION
Natural protein fibre
High value and low volume product
0.2 % of world's total textile production
Asia produces over 90 % of the total global output.
China is the leading supplier with an annual prodn
of 81880 MT (2000)
India is the second largest producer of silk with
17550 MT (2001-02)

Silk is a
Life cycle of silkworms
Types of silk

Mulberry
Muga
Tussar
Eri

Comparison of some properties
Chemical properties
Silk can withstand at high temp
More sensitive to light
Too long a contact with dilute acids affects the
lustre of silk
Acids can be washed off easily from silk
Silk is less sensitive to alkalies than wool


Chemical structure of silk
Amino acids presents in the fibroin
Polypeptide molecules
Pretreatment Before Dyeing
Degumming Of Silk
Scouring
Bleaching
Fluorescent Whitening
Degumming
The process of eliminating sericin (gum) is
known as degumming.
Composition of cultivated raw silk as follows

Methods of degumming
Extraction with water
Boil-off in soap
Degumming with alkalis
Enzymatic degumming methods
Degumming in acidic solutions
Degumming with organic amines
Alkaline degumming
Soaking

2 g/L Silvatol I
2 cc/L Ammonia 25%
pH 9-9.5.

Enter goods at 40-50C and leave overnight
without rinsing.
Contd.
Alkaline boil-off
1 % Ultravon JU
1.06% Sodium Carbonate
0.84% Sodium Bicarbonate

pH 8.8. At boil for 2 hours.

Rinsing
1 ml/L Ammonia
25% at 50C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rinse.
Electromicrographs of silk fibre
(A)Raw silk
(B)Partially degummed silk
(C)Fully degummed silk
(A) (B) (C)
Scouring
Pre scour is used to remove the lubricants
It is optional process
Typical recipe would be

1-2 g/L Ultravon 3U
0.5-1 g/L SilvatolI
1-2 g/L Soda ash

At 90C for 30-40 minutes.





Bleaching
Bleaching of silk is carried out to remove natural
colouring matter of silk
Two major approaches for bleaching are

1. Oxidative Bleach
10-20 ml/L Hydrogen Peroxide (35%)
1-2 g/L Soda Ash
1-2 g/L Ultravon JU
2-3 g/L Sodium Silicate
pH 8.5-9. Enter the goods at 50C. Raise temp over
60 minutes to 90C and leave in cooling bath
overnight if possible.
Contd.
2. Reductive Bleach
3-5 g/L Stabilized Hydrosulphite
1-2 g/L Ultravon 7U
Enter the goods cold, raise the temperature over
30 minutes to 60C for 60 minutes and rinse.
Double bleach will give better whiteness
Fluorescent Whitening
Fluorescent whitening agents are generally
applied to silk in the reductive bleach bath.


0.5-1% Tinopal WHN
2-4 g/L Hydrosulphite

Enter in cold and raise to 60C in 60 minutes. Rinse.
Dyeing of silk
DYE CLASS MAJOR REQUIRMENTS LIMITATIONS
Acid dyes Brightness of shade,
Occasionally fluorescence
Poor fastness to light
and wet treatment
Acid milling dyes Good fastness & light & wet
treatment
Medium brightness
Natural dyes Eco-friendly, very bright Poor wash fastness
Reactive dyes Good wash fastness ___
Silk can be dyed by large no. of dyes
Choice of colours is mainly governed by the
requirements of shade, brightness and fastness
Dyeing Of Silk With Acid Dyes
Acid dyes are mostly used dye for silk
Dyeing behaviour is determined by r.m.m (relative
molecular mass) and degree of sulphonation
It can be classified by their dyeing behaviour and
fastness properties


Level dyeing dyes
Acid milling dyes
Levelling acid dyes
It requires the strong acids for exhaustion
Two main types of levelling dyes

1. Monosulphonated dyes
r.m.m value = 300 -500
Migrate well and cover up the dye uptake differences
Good wet fastness than disulphonated dyes

2. Disulphonated dyes
r.m.m value 400 600
Do not cover dyeability differences



Chemical structure of some level dyeing
classes
Structure of
levelling acid dyes
Acid milling dyes
It have good wet fastness
r.m.m value is 600 900
Dyed at higher pH values ( 5-8) than level-dyeing dye
Structure of
some azo
milling dyes

Contd.
Structure of
some TPM and
Anthraquinone
milling dyes

Mechanism of adsorption of Acid dyes
Application procedures
A Acetic acid (60%)
2 4 % owf & Glaubers
salt 5 10 % owf,
B-Dye x% owf
pH 4-5
Dyeing cycle
Dyeing of silk with Natural dyes
Natural dyes are mordant dyes
Dyeing with these dyes becomes three steps
process
Dye extraction
Mordanting
Dyeing

Mordanting of Natural dyes
Chrome or potassium dichromate is unsuitable for silk
Because it does not have the capacity to reduce the
hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium ion
Iron salts are used a mordanting and weighting silk to
be dyed in black colour
Stannic chloride is also used
Application procedure for natural dyes
Dyed at 90 to 100C temperature
Time duration is 45 to 60 min

Dyeing
After dyeing
Cold wash
Soap wash (1 -2 %) for 10 min at 50 to 60C
Structures of Natural dyes
Yellow dyes
(Turmeric)
Red Dyes (Safflower)


Dyeing of silk with Reactive dyes
Mostly Ramazol Reactive dyes are used
No reactive dyes class has been specificallly
synthesised for silk
Some important various classes of Reactive dyes
Dichlorotriazine Dyes
Monochlorotriazine Dyes
Vinylsulphone Dyes
Bromoacrylamido Dyes
2, 4-Difluoro-S-Chloropyrimidine Dyes
Some reactive dyes applicable on silk
Vinyl sulphone dyes
These dyes are generally marketted as sulphato-
ethyl sulphone derivatives
It is followed Nucleophilic addition mechanism
Effect of dyebath pH on exhaustion and fixation of
the ester form of the dye on silk at 80C

Application procedure of reactive dyes
Dyeing cycle for dyeing 4% reactive dye be the exhaust
process. Bath ratio 1: 30, Na2SO4 addition twice 2.4 g
in solid to yield a final concentration of 40 g/l.
Na2CO3 ddition 2.4 ml of a 10% solution results in an
end concentration of 2 g/l.
Dye fibre bond stability
pH
Rough comparison of
the bond stabilities of
reactive dyes on silk,
wool and cotton
References
Chemical processing of silk, Edited by M.L.
Gulrajani, 1989
Silk dyeing printing and finishing, Edited by
M.L. Gulrajani, 1993
www.dharmatrading.com
www.pburch.net/dyeing/fiberreactive
http://nerdatabank.nic.in/
http://orissagov.nic.in/