High-Quality Images Inkjetted on Different Woven Cotton Fabrics Cationized with P(St-BA-VBT) Copolymer Nanospheres

The porosity, roughness, and thickness of woven fabrics limit inkjet printing quality, which is extremely important for obtaining high-quality inkjet printing images on fabrics. This study reveals the application of poly[styrene-butyl acrylate-(P-vinylbenzyl trimethyl ammonium chloride)] nanospheres prepared via a soap-free emulsion polymerization approach as a novel kind of the cationization modifier for the inkjet printing of different woven cotton fabrics by the pad-cure process. It was found that the nanospheres exhibited an average diameter of 65.5 nm, a zeta potential of +57.8 mV, and a glass transition temperature of 94.7 °C. The nanospheres deposited on three cotton fabrics through the dip-rolling process, resulting in the increase of zeta potential, hydrophobicity and thickness of the fabric, and the decrease of porosity and roughness. The high-quality inkjet printing images can be obtained on fabrics with different structures owing to the differences in zeta potential, hydrophobicity, porosity, roughness, and thickness of fabrics. The plain, twill, and honeycomb weave fabrics obtained high-quality inkjet printing images for portraits, oil paintings, and landscape paintings, respectively. The nanospheres could strongly adsorb on the fiber by electrostatic attraction. The reactive dye molecules in the inks could react with the cationized fibers by electrostatic attractive force, resulting in the increase of the color strength, fixation rates, and outline sharpness. The nanosphere cationization of different woven fabrics offers a new potential method for obtaining high-quality patterns without significantly affecting the fabric handle.