Deep-Shade Coloration Of PLA Fabrics

While the poly (lactic acid) (PLA) fiber has found its wide use in both apparel and industry filed, its relatively poor dyeing and finishing properties hinder, to a certain extent, its spreading speed. It's been reported that the PLA fiber is difficult to obtain a deep color shade by exhaustion dyeing despite of its low refractive index. The two main obstacles during the coloration process are its low melting point and its sensitive degradability to alkali.This study focuses on finding the way to increase PLA fiber's absorption ability of disperse dyes. It is carried out in two directions:1) Test all the treatments before, during and after dyeing process, modify and optimize the processes on premise that the fiber's mechanical property is basically reserved;2) Augment the dye concentration until the saturation point, as well as combine several dyes, in stead of just one, to obtain high color shade.The whole study is based on DyStar's coloration project on Ingeo fiber which is widely recognized by textile industry, in hope of providing certain practical suggestions and advices on PLA deep-shade dyeing.