Coloration of Calcium Alginate Fiber with Dye and Auxiliary Derived from Polyvinylamine (PVAm). I. Complex Dyeing with Polymeric Dyes Containing PVAm

Calcium alginate fiber is a biomaterial with promising application in textile industry. However, the poor dyeing property of this fiber restricts its development. In this study, three PVAm (polyvinylamine) dyes were applied to the exhaust dyeing of calcium alginate fiber and their dyeing behavior under different dyeing conditions was studied. The dyeing results revealed that PVAm dyes were firmly adsorbed on calcium alginate fiber by coordination bonding formed between the primary amino groups in PVAm backbones of dyes and Ca2+ ions in calcium alginate fiber. This special complex dyeing mode was further confirmed by a Langmuir-type adsorption manner of PVAm-1 dye for calcium alginate fiber. By the formation of this stable chelation structure between dyes and fibers, high exhaustion rates (88.9–97.1 %) and excellent color fastness were obtained. SEM and XRD results also showed that the surface and crystal phase of dyed fibers had very slight changes compared to those of original calcium alginate fibers. The strength property of the fiber was also maintained well after this special complex dyeing process.