A color regulation and matching of nanoscale polymer encapsulated pigment hybrid latex foam dyeing for cotton/polyester blended fabrics

Pigment foam dyeing is one of the most environment-friendly and effective ways to realize saving water and energy. However, the agglomerate of pigment particles causes the negative color parament, limiting the color regulation and matching of textile dyeing. In this work, the nanoscale polymer-encapsulated three-primary-color-pigments hybrid latexes have been investigated for foam dyeing of cotton/polyester (C/P) blended fabrics. The optimized pigment hybrid latex foam dyeing processes for C/P blended fabrics were determined involving the dip-nip pressure, baking temperature, and baking time. The foam color matching system of nanoscale pigment hybrid latex was compared with the conventional mixture of pigment and binder. It was found that the color control system pigment hybrid latexes can dye fabrics with not only high color levelness and rubbing fastness, but also a wide range of different hues and shades by matching these primary colors. Interestingly, the color difference (∆E) of dyed blended fabrics using three primary pigments with a mixing ratio of 1:1:1 decreased by 57.4% from 0.54 to 0.23 in comparison with that of the conventional system, due to nanoscale hybrid latex particles as a determination faction of color matching in pigment foam dyeing. It is evident that the eco-friendly dyeing method with the color regulation and matching here could significantly enhances the quality of dyed fabric production, and provides a viable and promising prospect in the industrial-scale.