Journal of Textile Science & Engineering

Effects of Dyeing Temperature and Molecular Structure on the Dye Affinity of Polyurethane Films containing Polyethylene Glycol Segments

Abstract

Enomoto M, Tokino S and Ishihara H

The dyeing behavior of segmented polyurethane containing copolymerized polyethylene glycol soft segments was investigated. Four types of segmented polyurethane were prepared by controlling the aggregation of the hard segments and the mobility of polyethylene glycol in the soft segments. Dyeing rate curves and sorption isotherms were obtained for direct dyes at various temperatures along with the swelling ratios of the different segmented polyurethane samples. The sorption of CI Direct Red 28 by these samples is shown to decrease with increasing dyeing temperature, with the swelling ratio of the segmented polyurethane film also decreasing. Changes in the tensile strength of the films before and after dyeing with CI Direct Red 28 are shown to be related to the degree of aggregation of the hard segments, as well as to the amount of dye used.