The Effects of Chitosan on Dyeing Abilities of Cotton Fabric Dyed with Reactive Dyes

To enhance dyeing ability of cotton fabric, the cotton fabric was modified with chitosan. The effects of chitosan modification on dyeing abilities, such as exhaustion, dye fixation and color yield (K/S)) were studied. The results show that: (1) Chitosan surface modification is of benefit in the increase of dye exhaustion, rising by 3.1% at least (2) The dye fixation of cotton fabric can be improved by surface modification with chitosan, increasing by over 4.2% (3) The K/S value of modified cotton fabric is much higher than that of unmodified fabric, greater by above 18.9%. (4) It can also be obtained that the optimal dyeing temperature should be 50 °C for chitosan modified cotton fabric.