Ecological Dyeing Technology of Polyester Fabric Using Glycerol

Abstract

Textile industry struggles with hazardous industrial effluents, water, and energy consumption for sustainability. In the present study, nontoxic glycerol was used as a dispersing agent with water in order to reduce the chemical consumption and eliminate the use of more water in polyester (polyethylene terephthalate [PET]) dyeing. Glycerol was added to dyeing bath at different concentrations, and disperse dyes were dispersed with using microwave radiation. PET fabric samples were dyed with glycerol using microwave radiation, and dyeing properties were compared with carrier dyeing method. After the dyeing process, spectrophotometric analysis, light, rubbing, and washing fastness of samples were analyzed. The experimental results show that glycerol is an ecological and organic substitution to carrier in PET dyeing. As a result, negative environmental impacts of the traditional PET dyeing method can be reduced using glycerol. Compared with traditional dyeing methods, dyeing with glycerol is a promising alternative for sustainability of the textile industry. Moreover, microwave radiation led to an increase in dye uptake, dyeing rate acceleration, energy, and time saving.