Novel eco-textile dyes due for release

A team of scientists at the university, led by Dr Richard Blackburn, as part of spin-out company DyeCat Ltd have a developed a unique dyeing process that creates coloured polymers inside textile fibres via a patented catalytic dyeing process.

The team has been working on this new developed over the past few years but is now said to be close to a commercial release of the technology.

The new technique involves the use of simple colourless molecules, some derived from natural raw materials, which are then linked together by a clever catalyst, and the colour develops as the polymer chains grow. The catalysts used in this process are in very low amounts and are said to have minimal impact in terms of eco-profile and toxicity compared to the conventional antimony and tin-based catalysts used in synthetic fibre production.

The technology has so far proved successful on hair-derived textile fibres such as wool and can take place at cool temperatures, which also saves energy and associated costs. It’s thought that it also has the potential to drastically reduce the dependence on petroleum as a starting point for dyestuff production. Work on cellulosics will commence shortly.

In a separate development the same team is also chemically modifying natural dye molecules to produce natural/synthetic hybrids. Early indications show that these new dyestuffs can be environmentally benign but also have performance benefits and improved yields compared to natural dyestuffs.

The team is working on modifying alizarin, a colorant derived from the root of the madder plant to create a molecule that produces bright, high fastness disperse dyes for polyester and PLA.

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Source:ecotextile.com