Effect of metal coating pretreatment in dyeing acrylic fibers with cationic dye

In this work, metal coating of acrylic fibers with copper sulfide and its effect on dyeing behavior was investigated. Surface of the acrylic fibers were coated with an insoluble conducting copper sulfide layer by one step dipping method and then the coated samples were dyed. For this purpose, the samples were treated in a bath containing copper (II) ions, a reducing agent and a sulfur containing compound. The influence of different variables involved in the coating process was also investigated to obtain the optimal conditions for metal coating. The amount of reacted copper was measured by atomic absorption technique. Results showed that metal coating led to the improvement of antimicrobial properties of the samples as well as their reduced electrical resistivity. The coated samples displayed very good fastness properties. Also, the copper coated samples have dyeing power by cationic dye. After dyeing by a cationic dye, the electrical conductivity and antimicrobial properties of the fibers were not lowered.