Disperse dyeing of textile fibers

Abstract

A dyed fibrous material comprising a plurality of textile fibers, particularly cotton fibers, and a polymer bonded to the fibers and to a disperse dye material to affix the dye material to the fibrous material.

1 . A dyed fibrous material comprising a plurality of textile fibers and a polymer bonded to the fibers and to a disperse dye material to affix the dye material to the fibrous material. 
     
     
         2 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the textile fibers comprise natural fibers. 
     
     
         3 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the textile fibers comprise cellulosic fibers. 
     
     
         4 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the textile fibers comprise cotton fibers. 
     
     
         5 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the textile fibers comprise cotton fibers and synthetic fibers. 
     
     
         6 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer is a dried and/or cured emulsion polymer. 
     
     
         7 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein said polymer contains less than 25 wt % of a polyester. 
     
     
         8 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein said polymer does not include a polyester. 
     
     
         9 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein said polymer comprises from 0.1 to 10 wt % of the combined weight of the polymer and the fibers. 
     
     
         10 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises an emulsion copolymer selected from vinyl ester-based, acrylic-based, styrene/acrylic-based or styrene/butadiene-based emulsion copolymers. 
     
     
         11 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein said polymer is bonded to spaced areas of said fibrous material so as to define a non-continuous layer on said fibers. 
     
     
         12 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein said polymer has a glass transition temperature from about −30° C. to about +50° C. 
     
     
         13 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1  and exhibiting a wet crockfastness as determined according to AATCC Test Method 8 of at least 3.5. 
     
     
         14 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1  and exhibiting a lightfastness as determined according to AATCC Test Method 16, Option 3 (using a xenon light source for 20 hours) of at least 4. 
     
     
         15 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1  and exhibiting a washfastness as determined according to AATCC Test Method 61 (IIA) of at least 3 after 5 accelerated wash cycles. 
     
     
         16 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein said disperse dye material is fluorescent. 
     
     
         17 . A dyed cotton fibrous material comprising a plurality of cotton fibers, a cellulose-reactive emulsion copolymer which has been contacted with said fibers being chemically bonded to said fibers by curing the cellulose-reactive emulsion copolymer to effect reaction of said emulsion copolymer at least partially with cellulose hydroxyl moieties within said cotton fibers, with a disperse dye material being affixed to said fiber-bonded emulsion copolymer. 
     
     
         18 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 17 , wherein the emulsion copolymer is selected from vinyl ester-based, acrylic-based, styrene/acrylic-based or styrene/butadiene-based emulsion copolymers. 
     
     
         19 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 17 , wherein the emulsion copolymer is a vinyl ester-based copolymer selected from vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymers, vinyl acetate-vinyl alkanoate; vinyl acetate-acrylic copolymers, and combinations of said copolymer types. 
     
     
         20 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 17 , wherein the emulsion copolymer is an acrylic emulsion copolymer produced from a monomer mixture comprising at least two different (meth)acrylate monomers. 
     
     
         21 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 17 , wherein the emulsion copolymer comprises from about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt %, based on total monomers in the copolymer, of one or more ethylenically unsaturated cross-linking co-monomers. 
     
     
         22 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the disperse dye is selected from carboxylic acid group-free and sulfonic acid group-free nitro, amino, aminoketone, ketoninime, methine, polymethine, diphenylamine, quinoline, benzimidazole, xanthene, oxazine, coumarin, anthraquinone and azo dyes. 
     
     
         23 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of textile fibers form at least part of a fabric or a garment. 
     
     
         24 . The dyed fibrous material of  claim 23 , wherein one side of the garment has a lower reflectance than the opposite side of the garment. 
     
     
         25 . A process for dyeing textile fibers, the process comprising:
 B) contacting a plurality of textile fibers with an emulsion polymer in order to deposit the emulsion polymer on the fibers;   B) drying and/or curing the emulsion polymer deposited on the fibers to bond the emulsion polymer to the fibers and thereby form polymer-treated fibers; and   C) contacting the polymer-treated fibers with a disperse dye material under conditions effective to bond the disperse dye material to the emulsion polymer, whereby the polymer serves to affix the disperse dye material to the textile fibers.   
     
     
         26 . A process for dyeing cotton fibers, the process comprising:
 B) contacting a plurality of cotton fibers with a cellulose-reactive emulsion copolymer in order to provide a combination of emulsion copolymer and fibers;   B) curing said combination of emulsion copolymer and fibers in order to chemically anchor the emulsion copolymer to said cotton fibers via reaction of at least some cellulose-reactive monomers within said copolymer with cellulose hydroxyl moieties within said cotton fibers, to thereby form copolymer-treated cotton fibers; and   C) contacting said copolymer-treated cotton fibers with a disperse dye material under conditions which are sufficient to affix at least a portion of said disperse dye material to the copolymer component of said copolymer-treated cotton fibers.   
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the emulsion polymer which is to be contacted with said cotton fibers is, prior to dilution in a fiber treatment bath, in the form of an emulsion having a solids content of from about 40 wt % to about 65 wt %, and a pH of from about 2 to about 8. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the emulsion polymer which is to be contacted with the fibers is, prior to contact with said fibers, diluted with water to form a treatment bath having a solids content of from about 2.0 wt % to about 10 wt % and a pH for from about 2 to about 8. 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the fibers are contacted with the emulsion polymer by applying said emulsion polymer to the fibers in the form of a fabric in a padding operation at a pad pressure of from about 0.3 bar to about 2.5 bar, and a pad speed of from about 0.25 m/min to about 30 m/min. 
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the contacting of the fibers with the emulsion polymer and the subsequent drying/curing of the emulsion polymer are carried out in the substantial absence of non-fibrous polyester compounds which have ester linkages in their polymer backbone. 
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein B) is carried out by subjecting said polymer to a temperature of from about 105° C. to about 170° C., preferably from about 140° C. to about 165° C. 
     
     
         32 . The process of  claim 25  and further including:
 (D) washing the dyed textile fibers under conditions effective to remove a portion of the dye from the fibers. 
 
     
     
         33 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the washing (D) comprises contacting said dyed fabric with stones, perlite, pumice and/or diatomaceous earth.