Environmental Cationic\nDye/Porous Silica Nanospheres for Printed Cotton Fabrics with Enhanced\nColoration Performance

The wastewater of printing and dyeing is difficult to\ntreat due to the degradation resistance of dye and the use of massive\nchemicals, causing a threat to the ecosystem. Pigment printing of\nfabrics possesses great advantages like high efficiency and flexible\nproduction, but there are some challenges like the risk of color depth\nand hand feeling due to the large size of the pigment and poor adsorption\nof light. In order to improve the coloration ability of pigment, herein,\na novel kind of cationic dye/porous silica nanospheres were prepared\nthrough the adsorption of methylene blue and rhodamine B onto electronegative\nporous silica nanospheres and applied in printing on woven cotton\nfabric. It was found that the nanospheres exhibited an average diameter,\ngood color depth, hand feeling, and high image quality for pigment\npreparation. In comparison with dye-printed fabrics, fabrics with\ndye/WHMS show higher color depth, resulting from the lower visible\nlight reflectance. Notably, the strong interaction between dyes and\nhydrophilic porous silica nanospheres (WHMS) facilitates the improvement\nof absorption efficiency and stability. Meanwhile, the printed fabrics\nwith dye/WHMS demonstrate splendid color fastness. The dry/wet rubbing\nfastnesses are 4 and 3–4, respectively. Furthermore, dye/WHMS-printed\ncotton fabrics possess a satisfactory hand feeling and breathability.\nThe consumptions of dye wastewater were reduced, and the printing\nprocess was simplified. We think that this work may provide a novel\ninsight into printed textiles with enhanced color effects and alleviate\nthe environmental impact of conventional textile coloration.