Acrylic yarns dyeing properties of cationic ultra-fine pigment modified by TDBAC

To provide a novel pathway to improve fastness and levelling properties of acrylic, cationic ultra-fine pigment was prepared by grinding pigment with cationic dispersant agent Tetradecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorine (TDBAC). Effects of pH, pigment dosage and dyeing temperature were investigated, and dyeing properties of cationic ultra-fine pigment and cationic dye were compared. At pH 8.6 the ultra-fine pigment got the largest pigment adsorption of 99.54% and K/S value of 5.41. The increase of pigment dosage resulted in low adsorption and brilliant colours, and the dyed acrylic yarns presented a maximum K/S value when pigment dosage was 2% (o.w.f). Dyeing rate increased along with temperature, and dyeing balance could be achieved in 15 min at the temperature of 95 °C. Compared with yarns dyed by cationic dye, the acrylic yarns dyed with ultra-fine pigment showed an improvement about 34% in levelling property, and the light fastness was improved from 4 to 6.