Fabric pretreatment for inkjet printing

Abstract

This invention pertains to inkjet printing on fabric and to a pretreatment solution for the fabric that allows high quality printing thereon.

1 . A textile pretreatment solution comprising a polycationic compound, a viscosity builder, an acid donor and water.  
     
     
         2 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 1 , comprising at least about 0.2 wt % up to about 10 wt %% by weight of the polycationic compound, about 0.5 wt % to about 10 wt % of the viscosity builder; and about 0.5 wt % to about 20 wt % of the acid donor, based on the total weight of the solution.  
     
     
         3 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 1 , wherein the polycationic compound comprises on average at least five cationic amine groups per molecule.  
     
     
         4 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 1 , wherein the polycationic compound comprises on average 10 or more cationic amine groups per molecule.  
     
     
         5 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 3 , wherein the polycationic compound is a cationic amine polymer.  
     
     
         6 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 5 , wherein the cationic amine polymer is selected from the group consisting of a polyethyleneimine, a polyallylamine and a polyvinylpyridine.  
     
     
         7 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 1 , further comprising urea.  
     
     
         8 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 1 , having a viscosity of greater than about 100 and less than about 2000 cP at 25° C.  
     
     
         9 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 1 , having a pH of between about 6 and about 8.  
     
     
         10 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 2 , wherein the polycationic compound is a cationic amine polymer comprising on average 10 or more cationic amine groups per molecule; and the solution has a viscosity of greater than about 100 and less than about 2000 cP at 25° C., and a pH of between about 6 and about 8.  
     
     
         11 . The textile pretreatment solution of  claim 10 , further comprising urea.  
     
     
         12 . A treated fabric comprising a fabric having applied thereon the textile pretreatment solution in a wet pick-up of from about 20 to about 100 grams of textile pretreatment solution per 100 grams of fabric, wherein the textile pretreatment solution comprising a polycationic compound, a viscosity builder, an acid donor and water.  
     
     
         13 . The treated fabric of  claim 12 , wherein the fabric comprises synthetic polyamide fibers.  
     
     
         14 . The treated fabric of  claim 12 , wherein the fabric is an about 70 to about 200 denier synthetic polyamide.  
     
     
         15 . The treated fabric of  claim 12  which, subsequent to application of the textile pretreatment solution, has been dried to equilibrium moisture at ambient temperature.  
     
     
         16 . The treated fabric of  claim 12 , wherein the textile pretreatment solution comprises at least about 0.2 wt % up to about 10 wt %% by weight of the polycationic compound, about 0.5 wt % to about 10 wt % of the viscosity builder; and about 0.5 wt % to about 20 wt % of the acid donor, based on the total weight of the solution.  
     
     
         17 . The treated fabric of  claim 16 , wherein the polycationic compound is a cationic amine polymer comprising on average 10 or more cationic amine groups per molecule; and the solution has a viscosity of greater than about 100 and less than about 2000 cP at 25° C., and a pH of between about 6 and about 8.  
     
     
         18 . The treated fabric of  claim 17 , wherein the textile pretreatment solution further comprises urea.  
     
     
         19 . An inkjet printing method comprising the step of printing an image on a treated fabric with an inkjet printer and one or more colored inks, wherein the treated fabric comprises a fabric having applied thereon the textile pretreatment solution in a wet pick-up of from about 20 to about 100 grams of textile pretreatment solution per 100 grams of fabric, the textile pretreatment solution comprising a polycationic compound, a viscosity builder, an acid donor and water.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein any one or all of the inks are printed with an ink coverage of between about 5 to about 17 grams of ink per square meter of fabric.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the absolute value of the degree of penetration is less than 20% for all colors in the printed image, wherein  
       
         
           
             
               
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                 penetration 
               
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                       K 
                       
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                       face 
                     
                   
                 
                 × 
                 100 
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                 % 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the treated fabric comprises synthetic polyamide fibers.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the treated fabric is an about 70 to about 200 denier synthetic polyamide.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the treated fabric, subsequent to application of the textile pretreatment solution, has been dried to equilibrium moisture at ambient temperature.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the textile pretreatment solution comprises at least about 0.2 wt % up to about 10 wt %% by weight of the polycationic compound, about 0.5 wt % to about 10 wt % of the viscosity builder; and about 0.5 wt % to about 20 wt % of the acid donor, based on the total weight of the solution.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the polycationic compound is a cationic amine polymer comprising on average 10 or more cationic amine groups per molecule; and the solution has a viscosity of greater than about 100 and less than about 2000 cP at 25° C., and a pH of between about 6 and about 8.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the textile pretreatment solution further comprises urea.