Surface characteristics and dyeing properties of polyimide fabric treated with sodium hydroxide

A polyimide fabric was treated with sodium hydroxide to improve its dyeing property. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that carboxyl groups were introduced onto the fibre surface after an alkali treatment. The mean zeta potentials were 7.19 mV for the original sample and –12.1 mv for the treated sample. The surface morphology measured using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy indicated the presence of a very rough surface structure for the alkali‐treated sample. The alkali‐treated sample showed a higher equilibrium exhaustion than the untreated sample did. The adsorption isotherms of the treated fabric followed the Langmuir sorption model.