Promising approach for vat dyeing and antimicrobial properties of melt‐spun polyamide‐6/organoclay nanocomposite fabrics

Abstract Polyamide‐6 (PA‐6) nanocomposites containing three modified montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclays were prepared by a melt compounding technique. Spinnable nanocomposites were prepared by mixing pure PA‐6 pellets with PA‐6/MMT masterbatches containing 4 wt% of modified montmorillonite (MMT A‐C) nanoclays. The nanocomposites contained 0.5, 2, and 4 wt% of three different organoclay variants, designated as PA‐6/MMT‐A, PA‐6/MMT‐B and PA‐6/MMT‐C. After spinning, the fibres were drawn and knitted into fabric samples for testing. The effect of intercalated MMT compounds on the mechanical properties of the resulting PA‐6 nanocomposite fabrics was investigated. The prepared PA‐6/MMT nanocomposite fabrics showed higher colour strength (K/S) with vat dyes compared to the reference fabric made from fibres spun without MMT clay content. The carbocyclic vat dyes exhibited higher colour strength values of the dyed nanocomposite and reference fabrics compared to the heterocyclic vat dyes due to the high substantivity of carbocyclic reduced vat structure to the fabrics. On the other hand, the dyed nanocomposite fabrics with the heterocyclic‐based vat dyes exhibited higher antimicrobial activities than those dyed with carbocyclic‐based vat dyes due to the presence of N, or O atoms in the ring structures. The colour fastness for vat dyeings on PA‐6/MMT nanocomposite fabrics secured very good to excellent washing, perspiration and chlorinated water fastness ratings. All dyed fabrics showed excellent light fastness using vat dyes.