Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.111, No.4, 1892-1899, 2009
Pigment Color Printing on Cotton and Polyester Fabrics with Electron Beam Irradiation Curable Formulations
Accelerated electrons delivered by electron beam accelerator were used to fix pigment colors, incorporated in curable formulation containing diluting monomer and an oligomer, to cotton and polyester fabrics. Tetrahydrofurfurfryl acrylate monomer and trifunctional Urethane-methacrylate (TFUMA) oligomer were used as curable base besides ethylene glycol. The fabrics were printed with these formulations and exposed to various doses of electron beam irradiation generated from the 1.5 MeV (25 kW) electron beam accelerator machine. The irradiation dose, formulation composition, and pigment color concentration were studied. The roughness and color fastness to rubbing, washing, and perspiration of the printed fabrics by electron beam irradiation, were compared to the same fabrics printed by conventional pigment printing pastes. The results showed that cotton and polyester fabrics printed with the pigment colors by electron beam irradiation displayed higher color strength than those fabrics printed by the conventional thermal curing at equal pigment color ratios depending oil the kind of pigment color. The durability properties, in term of roughness, rubbing, washing, and perspiration of fabrics printed by electron beam irradiation are better than those printed by conventional thermal Curing. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 111: 1892-1899, 2009
Keywords:electron beam accelerator;pigment color;curable formulations;color strength;durability properties