Structure–propertyrelationshipsforazodispersedyesonpolyurethanefibreHong-FeiQiana,*andXin-YuanSongbaCollegeofTextilesandApparel,ShaoxingUniversity,Shaoxing312000,ChinaEmail:qhf@zscas.edu.cnbCollegeofChemistryandChemicalEngineering,DonghuaUniversity,Shanghai,200051,ChinaReceived:14November2008;Accepted:26March2009Usingtwoseriesofmonoazodispersedyes,therelationshipsbetweenthemolecularstructureofdyeanditsdyeingproperties,suchasadsorptionbehaviour,fastnesspropertiesanddistributiononpolyurethane–polyesterblends,werethoroughlyinvestigated.Correlationanalysisofexperimentdatarevealedthatthepartitioncoefficientbetweenoctanolandwater(CLogP)isthemainfactoraffectingdyesorption.AgreaterlevelofCLogPtendstohaveagreaterisothermcoefficientandbetterrubbingandwashingfastnessonpolyurethanefibre,aswellasagreaterdistributionratiobetweenthecomponentsoftheblend.Thedyedipolemomentisnegativelycorrelatedwithvariousdegreesofwashingfastness.Thedyewithtwoterminalhydroxygroupsexhibitednotablesorptiononthepolyurethanecomponentandhasthelargestpartitionratioonpolyurethane–polyesterintheblend.Correspondingregressionanalysisequationswereidentified.IntroductionPolyurethane(PU)fibreisgenericallyreferredtoasspandex.Itismanufacturedfromglycolanddi-isocyanaterawmaterialsusingaspecialspinningmethod.Thefibre-formingsubstanceisalong-chainsyntheticpolymercomprisingatleast85%segmentedPU,withbothhardandsoftsegments.Theformercontainpolargroupssuchasurethane(NHCOO)andureylene(NHCONH),whichcanformintermolecularhydrogenbondstoproduceaharddomainwithinwhichthesegmentsarefixedtoeachother,yieldingacompactstructure,whereasthesoftsegmentscanmoveeasilyandconferflexibility.PUfibreisusedbyblendingwithotherfibres;coveredyarnandcorespunyarnarecommonlyusedforms.Itscontentinfabricisusuallyrelativelylow,butitspresencehasagreatimpactonthecolourfastnesspropertiesofthefibreblend.AlthoughPUisnotanewfibreandhasalongpracticalhistory,therearestillsomeproblemstobesolvedinPUdyeing.OneproblemispoorfastnesspropertiescausedbythestainofthedispersedyeonthePUcomponentswhenthePUispartofablendwithpolyester(PET).OurpreviousstudyshowedthatthedispersedyespreferentiallydyethePUcomponentofsuchablendratherthanthePET[1].Inorderimprovethecolourfastnessofthedyes,colourtechnologistsareinterestedinidentifyingdyeswhichhaveagooddyeingperformanceonthePUfibreorwhichshowlessstainingonthePUcomponents[2–4].Alternatively,reductioncleaningafterdyeingortheadditionofaspecialagentduringdyeingareothermethodscommonlyusedtoreducestainingofthePUfibre.Detailedinvestigationsofstructure–propertyrelationshipsofazodispersedyesforotherfibres,suchaspolyester,nylonandacetate,havebeencarriedout[5–8],butsimilarresearchforPUfibreisrare.PublishedstudieshavemainlyfocusedonthedyeingprocessforthePUfibreoritsblends[9,10].ThisstudyestablishedthequantitativerelationshipbetweenthecharacteristicparametersofthemonoazodispersedyesandtheirsorptionpropertiesonthePUfibrebyusingamethodsimilartothatreportedbyTeleginetal.[11].TheresultsofthecurrentstudymaybehelpfulinthesearchforspecialdyesforPUfibreandinthedevelopmentofnewdyeswhichshowagoodperformanceinthedyeingofelasticfabrics.ExperimentalMaterialsThePUfibre(44.4dtex,PTMGtype;Lycra)usedinthisstudywassuppliedbyInvistaFibresCo.Ltd(China).Thewovenpolyesterfabric(density220·210;weight168g⁄m2)wasobtainedfromNanfangCompany(China).Twoseriesofmonoazodispersedyeswereselectedtoexaminetherelationshipbetweenthedyestructureanddyeingbehaviour.Series1:CIDisperseOrange25,CIDisperseRed50,CIDisperseOrange76,CIDisperseOrange61andCIDisperseRed145;Series2:CIDisperseBrown1,DisperseBrownWXF,CIDisperseOrange30,CIDisperseOrange76andCIDisperseYellow163(Table1).AlldyeswereobtainedfromZhejiangLongshengGroupCo.Ltd(China)intheformofcommerciallyavailablepresscakesandwerepurifiedbyrepeatedre-crystallisationinacetone.Inordertoaccuratelycomparethedyesstudied,alldyeswereprocessedusingthesamemethods.Millingwasperformedinalaboratorymill(SDF400,FukangChemicalMachineryCo.Ltd,China)forthedesiredtimetoreachadispersingrateof4–5inthepresenceofadispersant(DiwatexXP-9;BorregaardLignoTech,Norway)ofamassequaltothatofthedye.Thedispersionswerespray-driedbymeansofalaboratoryspraydrier(KOPG-3000;LiaoyangKeaoInstrumentCo.Ltd,China)withinletandoutlettemperaturesof120and70C,respectively.doi:10.1111/j.1478-4408.2009.00188.x146ª2009TheAuthors.Journalcompilationª2009SocietyofDyersandColourists,Color.Technol.,125,146–150FibrepreparationToremoveimpurities,thefibrewasscouredat85Cfor30mininabathcontaining2g⁄lnon-ionicsurfactant,thenthoroughlyrinsedindistilledwateranddriedinopenair.Theliquorratiowas30:1.Thewovenpolyesterfabricwasscouredwithasolutioncontaining5g⁄lnonionicsurfactant(PeregalO;HangzhouElectrificationGroupChemicalAssistantCo.Ltd,China)and2g⁄lsodiumcarbonateat80Cfor30min,thoroughlywashedinwaterandair-driedatroomtemperature.IsothermmeasurementForeachdye,dyeingofvariousconcentrationswerecarriedoutinadyeingmachine(Rapid,China)ataconstanttemperatureof90Cfor90mintoreachdyeingequilibrium,whichwasdeterminedbymeasuringthedyeingrateisotherm.ThepHofthebathwasmaintaineda