Effect of Reactive Dyeing on Fabrics Modification with Silver Nanowires (AgNWs)

This paper presents the characterization of cotton and wool fabrics modified by silver nanowires (AgNWs). The effect of reactive dyeing of wool and cotton fabrics on their modification with AgNWs was analyzed. Both fabrics were dyed using reactive dyes (yellow, red, blue) at four color intensities (0.5, 1, 2, and 5%). Dyed fabrics were characterized by the determined Kubelka-Munk's coefficient (K/S) ratio and vibrational spectra (Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman). Analysis of the amount of AgNWs applied on cotton and wool fabrics indicates that the presence of dye affects the surface modification with AgNWs depending on the type of fibers. While for cotton no significant differences were noted in relation to the color intensity, in the case of wool, the higher the dye contents, the more nanowires were deposited on the surface. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) effect accompanying AgNW modification was also observed on wool, similar to the previous study on cotton.