*Maximum mass of metal that may be present on 0.2 gram of fabric padded to 80% wet pick-up at given mordant concentration.
ATR–FTIR analysis
In order to understand the shades obtained, the dyes, dye-mordant complex and dye- mordant-fibre complex were subjected to ATR–FTIR analysis. The results were used to determine the original bonds present and identify the modifications caused by the complex formation.
Cotton fabrics were dyed with natural dyes derived from the Acacia family at a concentration of 10 g/l by padding to obtain a nominal 1% depth of shade. Shade variation between triplicate trials as indicated in Section 2.2.2 was less than 5%, confirming the repeatability of the process. It is evident from the reflectance curves shown in Figure 3.6 and Figure 3.7 that the shades were similar to the benchmark shades obtained by exhaust dyeing. The slightly lighter shade obtained from padding may be due to the fact that at 80% wet pick-up the quantity of dye applied would be equivalent to a 0.8% OWM shade of exhaust dyeing. The two mordants yielded
different resultant shades for the same dye. Mordanting with copper (II) sulfate resulted in a copper-beige shade while iron (II) sulfate resulted in a yellowish-grey shade. The absence of a definite peak in both figures indicates the neutral nature of the colours obtained. When used as a mordant, copper is termed to bloom the final colour, while iron dulls it [28]. This effect is evident in the flatter and lower reflectance curve of grey, as compared to that of beige.
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