Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02464-3 (0123456789().,-volV)
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89().,-volV)

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Sericin assisted eco-friendly reactive dyeing for cotton fabric

Pervin Anis . Tuba Toprak . Egemen Kutlu

Received: 26 December 2018 / Accepted: 29 April 2019 / Published online: 24 May 2019
Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2019

Abstract A large amount of salt has been used in
reactive dyeing of cotton. In this study, the reduction
in the amount of salt used in reactive dyeing of cotton
fabric after the sericin application by different meth-
ods was investigated in detailed. The effects of
different cross-links (citric acid and butane tetracar-
boxylic acid) for the bonding of the sericin to the
cotton fabric were also investigated. The results were
evaluated in terms of color coordinates and color
strength, washing and rubbing fastness, and crease
recovery angle. Presence of the sericin onto cotton
fabric after the application was evidenced with FT-IR
spectra. The application of sericin and subsequent
dyeing resulted in similar color depths to the conven-
tional dyeing even with half the salt used in conven-
tional reactive dyeing. The presence of cross-links in
the pre-treatment baths did not reveal significant
differences in color strengths compared to used only
sericin. The fastness values of reactive dyed fabrics
after sericin application had similar fastness values
with traditional dyed ones. Crease recovery angles
showed an increase after sericin pre-treatment. Sericin
application before reactive dyeing could be one of the
best alternative ways to reduce salt usage in reactive
dyeing.

P. Anis (&)  T. Toprak  E. Kutlu

Textile Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering,
Bursa Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey
e-mail: pervin@uludag.edu.tr

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6318 Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331

Graphical abstract

Silkworms feed on mulberry leaves

Silkworms spin silk

Cocoon formation

Silk structure
Reeling and spinning of cocoons to get raw silk

Degumming

The degumming waste liquor that is rich in sericin content is

being used as:

SAVE NATURE

NO MORE SALTY WATER

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Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331
Keywords Eco-friendly  Cotton  Modification 
Sericin  Reactive dyeing  Salt-free
Introduction
Cotton constituted approximately 23% (20 9 106 -
tons) of world textile fiber demand of 90 9 106 tons in
2015 (https://www.cirfs.org/statistics/key-statistics/
world-production-fibre). Cotton fiber has the highest
share among all cellulosic fibers (Burkinshaw 2016).
Some of the reasons why cotton fiber is highly pre-
ferred are its excellent biocompatibility, water absor-
bency, air permeability, moisture regain,
biodegradability, and no static electricity (Wang and
Lewis 2002; Wang et al. 2009; Teng et al. 2011).
Reactive dyestuff is more popular than others for
dyeing of cotton because of its ease of application,
wide color gamut and excellent fastness properties to
the repeated laundering (Lee and Pavlostathis 2004;
Ojstršek et al. 2008; Chakraborty 2014). Reactive
dyestuff account for 11% of the global textile dye
market (Mathur et al. 2012) and more than 80,000 tons
of reactive dyestuffs are produced each year. For
dyeing, one kilogram of cotton with reactive dyestuff,
70–150 L of water, 0.6–0.8 kg of NaCl and 30–60 g of
dyestuff are used (Allègre et al. 2006). The electrolyte
required to decrease the zeta potential of fiber surface
(Neale and Peters 1946; Tarbuk et al. 2014) and alkali
is used to fix the exhausted dyes to cotton fiber
(Arivithamani and Giri Dev 2016). After reactive
dyeing, alkali, salt, and hydrolysed dyes are present as
an effluent (Bairagi et al. 2005; Rosa et al. 2014; Chen
et al. 2015; Khatri et al. 2015).
There are several studies in the literature about the
additional properties of the fabric while increasing the
dye uptake of the fabric with biopolymers (Jocic et al.
2005; Chang et al. 2008; Najafi et al. 2009; Sophon-
vachiraporn et al. 2011; Gupta et al. 2015a; Bhuiyan
et al. 2017; Verma et al. 2018) and sericin is one of
them (Lee et al. 2004; Kongdee et al. 2005; Kongdee
and Chinthawan 2007; Zhou et al. 2012; Das et al.
2014; Gupta et al. 2015b; Chaudhary et al. 2017;
Bhandari et al. 2018). Sericin, which is composed of
18 different amino acids (Cao and Zhang 2016) and is
highly hydrophilic, has strongly polar amino, hydro-
xyl, and carboxyl side groups (Padamwar and Pawar
2004; Kundu et al. 2008). Sericin has found places in
6319
areas, such as cell culture additives (Minoura et al.
1995; Takahashi et al. 2003), cosmetic (Daithankar
et al. 2005; Padamwar et al. 2005), dietary food
(Sasaki et al. 2000a, b; Zhaorıgetu et al. 2001; Yang
et al. 2009), biomedical (Soong and Kenyon 1984;
Dewair et al. 1985; Panilaitis et al. 2003), and
anticoagulants (Tamada et al. 2004) due to its
properties like biocompatibility, biodegradability,
UV resistance, resistance to oxidation, moisture
absorption and abilities to scavenge radicals and
attack microbes (Altman et al. 2003; Kundu et al.
2008; Joseph and Raj 2012; Shahid et al. 2013).
Moreover, sericin has become an essential biopolymer
in the textile industry.
In this paper, to reduce or eliminate the amount of
salt used in conventional reactive dyeing, sericin was
applied to the cotton fabric under different conditions
before dyeing. Although several studies had been
carried out that sericin increasing the dye uptake of
fabric, testing of different conditions and methods in
this study increased the possibility of industrial
implantation. In this context, different pre-treatment
processes with cotton fabrics via two different ways
with/without cross-links and dyeings were conducted.
The presence of sericin on cotton was studied with FT-
IR. The effects of various independent variables on
dyeing behaviour of the fabric were analysed with
color measurements (color coordinates and K/S val-
ues). Fastness properties of dyed fabric were investi-
gated via washing and rubbing fastness tests. Because
of the presence of cross-link, crease recovery test was
also performed. The conventionally reactive dyed
cotton fabrics were used as control samples.
Materials and methods
Materials
Plain-weave cotton fabric having specifications of
fabric weight 130 g m-2 was procured from Yürek
Tekstil Sanayi ve Tic. A.Ş (Bursa, Turkey). Silk sericin
(Bombyx mori-silkworm), citric acid (CA) and
butanetetracarboxylic acid (purity 98.5–101.5%)
(BTCA) were supplied from Sigma Aldrich. Sodium
chloride and sodium hydroxide were of technical
grade and provided by TEKKİM Kimya Sanayi Tic.
Ltd. Şti (Bursa, Turkey). The reactive dyestuff Everzol
Blue LX was purchased from Everlight Chemical
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Table 1 Codes of the Cross-link Application method Sericin Salt

samples and details of concentration (%) concentration (g L-1)
processes Exhaustion Impregnation

CA X1 X2 1 0
X3 X4 2 0
X5 X6 6 0
X7 X8 1 30
X9 X10 2 30
X11 X12 6 30
X13 X14 1 60
X15 X16 2 60
X17 X18 6 60

BTCA X19 X20 1 0

X21 X22 2 0
X23 X24 6 0
X25 X26 1 30
X27 X28 2 30
X29 X30 6 30
X31 X32 1 60
X33 X34 2 60
X35 X36 6 60

– X37 X38 1 0
X39 X40 2 0
X41 X42 6 0
X43 X44 1 30
X45 X46 2 30
X47 X48 6 30
X49 X50 1 60
X51 X52 2 60
X53 X54 6 60

Industrial Corporation. Pre-treatments used Werner
Mathis AG (VFM 32592), and XIAMEN RAPID (IR-
24SM) types of equipment. The XIAMEN RAPID (H-
TS-3) was used for drying and fixation. Fabrics were
dyed in XIAMEN RAPID (IR-24SM).
Methods
The parameters of sericin pre-treatments i.e. applica-
tion of sericin (impregnation and exhaustion), sericin
concentration (1%, 2%, and 6%), cross-links (CA and
BTCA) and the effects of salt concentrations
(60 g L-1, 30 g L-1, 0 g L-1) in the subsequent
dyeing process were investigated on the basis of color
strength, fastness and crease recovery angle. Alkali
(Na2CO3) was used in dyeing processes at 20 g L-1
concentrations. All experiments were repeated three
times and results were averaged and plotted with the
corresponding error bars. Sample codes and details of
pre-treatment processes are given in Table 1.
Application of sericin
Desized, scoured and bleached cotton fabric was
subjected to further sericin pre-treatment and dyeing.
Sericin pre-treatments were conducted via impregna-
tion and exhaustion methods using 1%, 2%, and 6%
owb (on the weight of bath) sericin with cross-links
3% (CA and BTCA). Sericin was applied to cotton
fabrics at 50 °C for 50 min at 30:1 liquor ratio for the
exhaustion method and at 10:1 liquor ratio to a wet
pick-up of 100% with two-dip-two-nip for

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impregnation method. Sericin impregnated samples
were dried at 80 °C for 5 min and cured at 150 °C for
3 min.
Dyeing of sericin-modified cotton fabrics
with reactive dyestuff
Sericin pre-treated fabrics were dyed at 5% dyestuff
concentration at 65 °C in 30:1 liquor at 65 min by
changing in salt concentrations (60 g L-1, 30 g L-1,
and salt-free) of dyeing baths. Dyed samples were
washed as follows: cold, warm, boiling with soap,
warm, and cold rinsings, respectively.
Conventional dyeings were performed at 3% and
5% dyestuff concentrations at 65 °C in 30:1 liquor
ratio at 65 min with 60 g L-1 salt and 20 g L-1 alkali.
The washing procedure was same with sericin-pre-
treated and dyed fabrics.
The results of dyeings were analysed using the
following methods.
FTIR-ATR spectroscopy
The infrared spectra of the pre-treated and dyed cotton
fabrics were recorded in the NICOLET iS50 FT-IR
spectrophotometer and measurements were performed
at 20 °C and relative humidity of 65%.
Measurement of color values
The L*, a*, b*, C*, and h0 values were calculated
using reflectance measurements (under D65 illumi-
nant and 10° standard observer) the Konica Minolta
CM-3600D spectrophotometer by ColorMission soft-
ware (v.3.4.1 by Argetek). The K/S values were
calculated using the Kubelka–Munk equation. The
color strength (K/S) formula is presented in Eq. 1.
ð1  RÞ2
K=S ¼ ð1Þ
2R
In Eq. 1, R is the decimal fraction of the reflectance
of fabric, K is the absorption coefficient, and S is the
scattering coefficient (Pisuntornsug et al. 2002).
Fastness testing
Fastness properties of the pre-treated and dyed sam-
ples were determined according to standard methods
6321
of TS EN ISO 105-C06/A1M (color fastness to
domestic and commercial laundering), and EN ISO
105-X12:2002-12 (color fastness to rubbing).
Crease recovery
The standard test method for the crease recovery angle
measurement of woven textile fabrics was used TS
390 BS EN 22313.
Statistical analysis
Multivariate regression analysis was used to reveal the
interactive effects of process variables by SPSS. A
value of p \ 0.05 was considered to be statistically
significant.
Result and discussion
FTIR-ATR spectroscopy
Figure 1 shows the FT-IR spectra of the convention-
ally pre-treated and dyed fabrics, dyestuff and dyed
after sericin applied fabric.
Conventionally desized, scoured and bleached
fabric showed the broadband at 3700–3000 cm-1
region, and it was arisen from OH– stretching
vibrations in cellulose (Abidi et al. 2014). CH2
asymmetrical and symmetrical stretching were
showed themselves as two vibrations at 2918 and
2851 cm-1 (Abidi et al. 2010). The peaks at
1634 cm-1, 1426 cm-1, 1365 cm-1, 1313 cm-1 cor-
responding to H2O and CH2, CH and OH deforma-
tions, respectively. Moreover, CO stretching of COH
and COC groups showed itself at 1160 cm-1,
1107 cm-1, 1052 cm-1, 1029 cm-1 (Toprak et al.
2018). No different peaks were observed in the
spectrum of the conventionally dyed sample than that
of the conventionally pre-treated fabric, and it was
thought that the peaks of dyestuff were not seen as
being shaded in the dyed fabric. Sericin applied, and
dyed fabric gave a peak at 1578 cm-1 and 1513 cm-1,
unlike other fabrics because of NH stretching vibra-
tions (Amide II) (Ahn et al. 2001; Gulrajani et al.
2008; Doakhan et al. 2013). Thus, they could be shown
as proof of sericin.
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Fig. 1 FT-IR spectra of fabrics and dyestuff
Color coordinates
Table 2 shows the color coordinates of the cotton
fabrics subjected to sericin, salt and cross-links
applications by different methods after reactive
dyeing.
Comparing the effects of salt and sericin concen-
trations on the color values, it was observed that the
salt disclosed more evident differences. The increase
in the amount of salt decreased the L* values in all the
samples absence and presence of cross-links, which
resulted in darker colors, and increasing a* value of
the color had caused the color to become redder. There
were no significant differences in b* and C* values,
and the angles of the color (h0) increased by about 4°–
5° to a slightly more blue-purple color. Since the
presence of the cross-links in the solution did not cause
significant changes, this finding suggests that there
was no necessity to be used in the processes.
While the application methods did not reveal
significant differences in color coordinates in dyeing
after citric acid application, darker, redder, bluer and
saturated colors were obtained when working with
BTCA according to exhaustion method.
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Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331
The color values that were closest to the 5%
traditional reactive dyeing by the exhaustion method
were obtained dyeing after pre-treatment with sericin.
Color strengths
Effects of sericin and salt concentrations, application
methods and cross-links on color strength
Figure 2 shows the color strengths of reactive dyed
cotton fabrics after pre-treated with sericin in the
presence of cross-links via different pre-treatment
methods. CA and BTCA were applied to the fabric by
exhaustion method in three different sericin concen-
trations and similar color depths were obtained after
reactive dyeing. While no significant differences were
observed in color strengths due to sericin concentra-
tion increase with this method, the amount of salt in
the dyeing bath caused these values to increase. After
pre-treatment with BTCA and 6% sericin, at 30 g L-1
salt concentration, half of the amount used in the
conventional exhaustion dyeing method, the color
yields of 5% dyeing were higher than the results of 5%
dyeing done using a conventional way.
 Table 2 Color coordinates of pre-treated and dyed fabrics
Color values
Sample L* a* b* C* h0 Sample L* a* b* C* h0 Sample L* a* b* C* h0
Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331

codes codes codes

Conv. 3% 38.19 - 0.82 - 30.58 30.59 268.46
Conv. 5% 33.92 0.60 - 30.48 30.49 271.13

X1 40.71 - 1.60 - 29.49 29.54 266.89 X19 40.01 - 1.47 - 29.57 29.60 267.16 X37 40.47 - 1.56 - 29.57 29.61 266.98
X2 39.32 - 1.40 - 28.92 28.95 267.23 X20 41.81 - 1.88 - 28.77 28.84 266.26 X38 39.81 - 1.44 - 29.24 29.28 267.18
X3 41.54 - 1.91 - 29.12 29.18 266.25 X21 40.53 - 1.73 - 29.21 29.26 266.60 X39 40.86 - 1.63 - 29.54 29.59 266.84
X4 40.62 - 1.70 - 29.29 29.34 266.68 X22 44.48 - 2.50 - 26.56 26.67 264.62 X40 39.52 - 1.41 - 29.25 29.28 267.24
X5 40.39 - 1.44 - 29.75 29.79 267.23 X23 40.35 - 1.64 - 29.18 29.22 266.79 X41 40.29 - 1.41 - 29.45 29.48 267.26
X6 39.79 - 1.56 - 29.21 29.25 266.95 X24 45.91 - 2.63 - 25.69 25.82 264.16 X42 40.30 - 1.72 - 29.19 29.24 266.63
X7 35.73 0.29 - 30.48 30.48 270.54 X25 35.28 0.07 - 30.30 30.30 270.14 X43 35.58 0.20 - 30.65 30.64 270.38
X8 36.02 - 0.07 - 29.73 29.73 269.86 X26 39.08 - 1.08 - 28.23 28.25 267.81 X44 35.85 - 0.04 - 30.29 30.29 269.92
X9 36.12 0.02 - 30.28 30.28 270.03 X27 35.57 0.24 - 30.56 30.56 270.45 X45 35.66 0.21 - 30.35 30.35 270.40
X10 37.14 - 0.33 - 30.24 30.24 269.38 X28 39.46 - 1.25 - 27.57 27.60 267.41 X46 36.08 0.03 - 30.40 30.40 270.06
X11 35.46 0.28 - 30.61 30.61 270.53 X29 35.91 0.16 - 30.83 30.83 270.29 X47 35.60 0.19 - 30.11 30.20 269.75
X12 35.93 0.10 - 30.47 30.47 270.19 X30 40.51 - 1.40 - 27.56 27.59 267.09 X48 35.89 - 0.22 - 29.99 29.99 269.59
X13 31.65 1.41 - 30.01 30.05 272.69 X31 31.85 1.51 - 30.80 30.84 272.80 X49 32.17 1.38 - 30.31 30.35 272.61
X14 34.02 0.79 - 30.78 30.79 271.47 X32 34.46 0.12 - 29.27 29.27 270.24 X50 33.49 0.85 - 30.63 30.65 271.59
X15 32.54 1.21 - 30.46 30.49 272.13 X33 31.69 1.63 - 30.12 30.16 273.10 X51 32.85 1.23 - 30.72 30.74 272.29
X16 33.64 0.76 - 30.79 30.80 271.41 X34 38.80 - 1.02 - 27.39 27.41 267.87 X52 32.92 1.13 - 30.56 30.58 272.12
X17 32.87 1.13 - 30.91 30.93 272.10 X35 31.58 1.73 - 31.34 31.39 273.17 X53 31.80 1.91 - 31.52 31.58 273.47
X18 32.01 1.75 - 31.42 31.47 273.20 X36 33.11 0.95 - 30.13 30.15 271.81 X54 32.51 1.02 - 30.29 30.30 271.94
6323

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Fig. 2 Effects of concentration of salt and sericin, application methods, and cross-links on color strengths

After dyeing processes, it was seen that the pre-

treatment by the exhaustion method for both cross-
links provided higher color strengths compared to its
application via impregnation. This difference was
more evident especially in BTCA. This finding
suggests that the increase in temperature may cause
more esterification (El-Tahlawy et al. 2005; Nal-
lathambi et al. 2011) for BTCA. Hence, it could be
crosslinked with more sericin (Xing et al. 2011).
The possible reaction mechanism between BTCA-
sericin and -cellulose is shown in Fig. 3 (El-Tahlawy Fig. 3 Predicted reaction mechanism between BTCA-sericin
et al. 2005; Šauperl and Stana-Kleinschek 2010; Xing and cellulose
et al. 2011). O-Cell and Sericin-NH groups may have
promoted reactive dye adsorption.
In Fig. 4a–d, the color yields of cotton fabrics, as the presence of groups that could bind a higher
sericin-treated via exhaustion method and reactive amount of dyestuff in the BTCA structure.
dyed, in the presence of two different cross-links, are Regarding the effects of cross-links, salt and sericin
given depending on the amount of salt and sericin. on color depth were examined by multiple regression
For both cross-links, the amount of salt and sericin analysis; it is clearly shown in Table 3 that the salt is
affected the color depth. BTCA provided higher color more effective than others. In the same table, the
strengths than CA. This situation could be interpreted

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Fig. 4 Effects of sericin and salt concentrations on color strengths with CA (a–c) and BTCA (b–d). (Color figure online)

Table 3 The effects of salt, Coefficientsa

sericin and cross-links on
the color depths Model Unstandardized Standardized coefficients t Sig.
coefficients
B Std. Error Beta

1 (Constant) 6.975 .217 32.135 .000

Crosslinking agent .335 .118 .062 2.831 .013
Sericin .088 .027 .070 3.218 .006
a
Salt .110 .002 .992 45.343 .000
Dependent variable: K/S

sericin concentration was found to be more effective
on K/S values than the type of cross-links.
Effects of sericin and salt concentrations,
and application methods on color strength
Figure 5 shows the color strengths of reactive dyed
samples, which subjected to application of sericin by
two different methods before dyeing.
After the application of sericin by exhaustion and
impregnation, dyeing at 5% dyestuff concentration
and absence of salt, the color efficiency obtained by
3% dyeing by conventional exhaustion method could
not be reached, but comparable values were occurred.
In the continuation of the pre-treatment of sericin, the
color yields of the dyeings using salt in half of the
amount used in the traditional method (X43-48)
reached the depth of the dyeing done according to
the conventional method. In dyeings using the same
amounts of salt (X49-54), the pre-treatment of the
sericin increased the color depths by about 10–25%.
This situation was thought to be related to the more
amount of dyestuff binding to the surface of the
sericin-modified cotton via sericin functional groups.
According to the impregnation method, the applica-
tion of sericin with exhaustion had led to higher color

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Fig. 5 Color strengths of dyed fabrics after pre-treatment with sericin. (Color figure online)
Fig. 6 The effect of salt
concentration on the color
strengths of the dyeings.
(Color figure online)
efficiencies in reactive dyeings in the presence of
30 g L-1 and 60 g L-1 salt concentrations. The color
strength value of the reactive dyed sample in the bath
containing alkali and dyestuff (X55) was lower than
the samples dyed in salt-free baths after sericin
application (X37-42). This situation could be inter-
preted as the binding of the dyestuff to the sericin. In
the case of using sericin alone in pre-treatment baths,
provided higher color efficiency after dyeing
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Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331
compared to it was used with cross-links. This case
was explained by blocking the hydroxyl groups of
cellulose, which react with the dyestuff, with cross-
links (Choi et al. 1994; Schramm et al. 2002).
In Figs. 6 and 7, the effects of salt and sericin
concentrations on the color depth of the dyeings are
shown with regression analysis.
It was found that there was a relation between salt
concentrations and color depths used in dyeing. At
Cellulose (2019) 26:6317–6331 6327

Fig. 7 The effect of sericin

concentration on the color
strengths of the dyeings.
(Color figure online)

Table 4 The effects of salt, Coefficientsa

sericin and application
method on the color depths Model Unstandardized coefficients Standardized coefficients t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta

1 (Constant) 8.634 .221 38.990 .000

Salt .094 .002 .987 38.125 .000
Serıcın .060 .028 .055 2.131 .051
Application - .560 .121 - .120 - 4.633 .000
a
method
Dependent variable: K/S

60 g L-1 salt concentration, K/S values were the
highest in the dyeings conducted after application of
sericin at each concentration.
The simple linear regression analysis of Fig. 7
showed a strong positive correlation between color
depth and sericin concentration.
In Table 4, which shows multiple regression anal-
ysis of effects of salt and sericin concentrations and
application methods on K/S values, the color depth
was more affected by the concentration of salt than the
sericin.
concentration of reactive dye was increased. The
increase in the amount of sericin used in pre-treatment
and salt concentrations used in dyeing was increased
the staining of the cotton fabric (from 4/5 to 4). This
situation was interpreted as the sericin aggregation at
6% concentration in the presence of 60 g L-1 salt and
aggregation was prevented the sericin binding to the
functional groups of the cellulose (Bhandari et al.
2018). No staining was observed onto the multifiber
fabric after modification presence of cross-links (CA
and BTCA).

Washing fastness Rubbing fastness

Table 5 shows the washing fastness of reactive dyed Table 6 shows the dry and wet rubbing fastness
fabrics after application of sericin. properties of the cotton samples. As could be seen,
In conventional dyeing, it was observed that the there were no noticeable differences in rubbing
cotton fabric in the multifiber was stained as the fastness properties in most cases.

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Table 5 Washing fastness values

Exhaustion Impregnation
Conv Conv X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
3% 5% 55 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54

WO 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
PAN 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
PET 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
PA 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
CO 4/5 4 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4 4 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 4 4
CA 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Table 6 Rubbing fastness Rubbing fastness

values
Samples Wet Dry Samples Wet Dry Samples Wet Dry

5% conv. 3/4 5
X1 5 5 X19 5 5 X37 4/5 5
X3 4/5 5 X21 4/5 5 X39 4/5 5
X5 4/5 5 X23 4/5 5 X41 5 5
X7 4/5 5 X25 4/5 5 X43 4/5 5
X9 5 4/5 X27 4/5 5 X45 4/5 5
X11 4/5 5 X29 4/5 5 X47 4/5 5
X13 4/5 5 X31 4/5 5 X49 4/5 5
X15 4/5 5 X33 4/5 5 X51 4/5 5
X17 5 5 X35 4/5 5 X53 5 5

Table 7 Crease recovery angle values of some fabrics higher CRA compared to the conventional dyed
sample. This increase in CRA was directly propor-
Sample Crease recovery angle
tional to the concentration of sericin in the pre-
Warp Weft treatment solution, i.e., a rise of 6–7% on average
Pre-dyed fabric 115 88 CRA values when the sericin concentration increases
5 % conv.dyed 55 50 from 1 to 6%. In general, the reason that the values in
X37 67 62 the warp direction were higher than in the weft
X41 73 65 direction was interpreted as sharing the action of the
X43 63 58
crease with more yarn in the warp direction (Omeroglu
X47 67 63
et al. 2010).

Crease recovery angle Conclusions

The effects of the concentration of sericin on the
values of crease recovery of cotton fabrics are
presented in Table 7.
As shown in Table 7, pre-dyed and conventional
dyed fabrics showed the highest and the lowest CRA at
both sides, respectively. Sericin applied fabrics had
An eco-friendly reactive dyeing process that reduced
NaCl consumption was developed by pre-treatment of
the cotton fabric with sericin. FT-IR analysis proved
that sericin was applied onto cotton fabric even cross-
link was not used. The color yields of the samples
which were pre-treated with sericin and dyed with

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30 g L-1 salt had similar values to those of conven-
tional dyeing at 60 g L-1 salt concentration. Appli-
cation of sericin before dyeing could somewhat lessen
the environmental damage of coloring. It was
observed that sericin had no negative effect on the
washing and rubbing fastnesses, and even it improved
crease recovery angles of fabrics. Sericin, a biomate-
rial, may be applied to the fabric prior to dyeing to
mitigate the environmental damage of the reactive
dyeing process.
Acknowledgments The authors express their sincere thanks
for funding this study with the project ‘‘OUAP (MH)-2019/5
Pamuklu Materyallerin Reaktif ve Direkt Boyar Maddeler ile
Boyanmasında Atık Yükünü Düşürecek Alternatif Yöntemlerin
İncelenmesi’’ by the Scientific Research Projects Department of
Bursa Uludağ University.
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