Cationic-cellulose nanofibers: preparation and dyeability with anionic reactive dyes for apparel application

Continuous effort in research and development of nanofibers for apparel usage has been focused within their functional properties only. We investigated esthetic properties by producing colored cationic-cellulose nanofibers for the very first time for the potential application of apparel use. The cellulose acetate nanofibers were electrospun followed by deacetylation and cationization to produce functional cationic-cellulose nanofibers and then dyed with anionic reactive dyes. The spectrophotometric measurement of dyed samples was carried out to determine color coordinates and color yield values. The cationic-cellulose nanofibers showed enhanced color yield and dye fixation without addition of an electrolyte in comparison to cellulose nanofibers. The cationization of cellulose nanofibers significantly enhanced the color yield values of around 76% at dye concentrations of 5%. Excellent color fastness results demonstrate that these new colored and breathable materials can potentially be considered as future apparel for casual or fashion.