Diffusion of permanent liquid dye molecules in human hair investigated by positron lifetime spectroscopy

The diffusion behavior of a commercial permanent liquid hair dye in human hair has been investigated using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and gravimetric sorption method. The positron technique makes it possible to non-invasively characterize the angstrom sized free volume holes in hair, which are supposed to be express pathways for diffusion of small molecules. The o-Ps lifetime parameters tau3 and I3 decrease rapidly during the first 60 min of sorption time. The overall decrease in o-Ps lifetime (tau3) was well over 200 ps and o-Ps intensity (I3) drops by 3.5%. These positron results are explained in terms of dye molecules filling the free volume holes and hair morphology. The dye penetrates the cuticle rapidly, but slowly in cortex. The first hour of dyeing appears to be the most effective period of deposition of dye molecules within hair. These results are well corroborated by the sorption results which suggest that the dye diffusion is essentially a diffusion controlled (i.e. Fickian) process, with no observable relaxation effects. In the latter part of the sorption, where positron parameters remain almost constant, mass increase might be due to surface adhesion. These two stages of sorption are well separated by the positron technique. The sorption curve also yielded an average value of apparent diffusivity of the dye in hair. From this study, we conclude that the free volume theory and positron technique, widely used in polymer research, may expediently be used to understand hair properties, more importantly diffusion of dye molecules.