Sustainable progress into batchwise coloration of polyurethane nanofibers by using ultrasonic energy

Abstract

In this decade, aesthetic potentials of electrospun polymeric nanofibers for advanced apparels have been studied. For the first time, we studied the sustainable aspects in the batchwise dyeing process of electrospun polymeric nanofibers in terms of conserving thermal energy and reducing the wastewater pollution. The nanofibrous mats were prepared using polyurethane (PU) polymer followed by dyeing with disperse dyes by conventional (CN) dyeing method as well as ultrasonic (US)-assisted dyeing method. Potential of savings in thermal energy (1000 kcal), dwell time (40 min) and quantity of disperse dyes (1.5% on the mass of nanofibers) were realized during the US-assisted dyeing method in comparison with the CN dyeing method. Further, total dissolved solids (TDS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) contents of dyeing effluents demonstrated considerable ecological merits of the US dyeing method in terms of 30% reduction in TDS and 46% reduction in COD contents in comparison with the CN dyeing method. Excellent color strength (K/S) (reached 10) of dyed PU nanofibrous mats were achieved by US-assisted dyeing method in comparison with the K/S (reached 6) with CN dyeing method. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were also applied during the study for characterization.