Abstract
Cotton fabrics have been chemically modified with two cationic compounds. They were 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride and the copolymer of dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride and allyl glycidyl ether, respectively. Under the conditions of no inorganic salt, two modified cotton fabrics were dyed with reactive dyes. The dyeing mechanism of two modified cotton fabrics was investigated in comparison with traditional dyeing of untreated cotton fabrics. It involved the adsorption type, adsorption thermodynamics, and adsorption kinetics between reactive dyes and modified cotton fabrics in the dyeing process. The color-fixing process of modified cotton fibers was also studied in detail. The results showed that there were obvious distinctions between the salt-free dyeing mechanism of modified cotton fabrics and traditional dyeing of untreated cotton fabrics. The adsorption isotherm model of the two modified cotton fabrics conformed to the Langmuir-model. The kinetic model of two modified cotton fabrics conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption of modified cotton fabrics was an endothermic process. The adsorption of unmodified cotton fabrics was an exothermic process. These will serve as a theoretical basis of the industrial production of salt-free dyeing of modified cotton fiber.