Dyeing Of Cotton Fabric Using UV Irradiated Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) as Natural Dye

Abstract

The rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. which contains curcumin, the main coloring component that imparts a yellow color onto cotton fabric, has been selected for study in this paper. The extracts are obtained by using different concentrations of irradiated turmeric powder. In order to improve colour fastness properties, pre and post- mordanting are applied by using alum and iron as mordants. The dyed samples are subjected to a CIE Lab system with a spectra flash spectrophotometer for the evaluation of L* (lighter/darker), a* (redder/greener) and b* (yellower/bluer) values.

Finally, ISO standard methods are employed to study colour fastness to light, washing and rubbing (dry and wet) in order to observe the influence of UV radiation on the dyeing behaviour of turmeric. It is observed that UV radiation not only enhances the color strength of dye on irradiated cotton fabric using low concentrations of dye, but also improves the color fastness properties of pre-irradiated cotton fabric by using pre-irradiated turmeric powder with a low concentration of mordant.

Citation

Adeel, S., Bhatti, I.A., EL-Nagar, K., Mohboob Alam, M. and Ali, N. (2011), "Dyeing Of Cotton Fabric Using UV Irradiated Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) as Natural Dye", Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 71-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-15-02-2011-B008