Surface Modification of Polyester Fabrics by Ozone and its Effect on Coloration Using Disperse Dyes: A Recent Study

In this work, we report on the use of ozone gas to modify the surface of polyester fibers, and the effect of this pre-treatment on the dyeing behavior of these fibers using disperse dyes. Because of its high crystallinity, non-ionic nature, and low water absorption, polyester fibers (PES) are the most widely used textile fibers. The chemical interactions between polyester, finishing compounds, and dyes are particularly difficult, nevertheless, because of their chemical structure. We report on the use of ozone to modify the surface of polyester fibers with the goal of improving the interaction of the modified surface with finishing compounds and dyes. We used C.I. Disperse Yellow 211 to dye ozone-treated polyester fabrics and evaluated the effects of ozone treatment using FTIR-ATR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM imaging, rubbing tests, and capillarity measurements. We evaluated the dyeing performance via color analysis and determined the dyeing kinetics. This work shows that ozone treatment is a good way to reduce inputs in the dyeing processes and also wastewater treatment expenses, thus, reducing the environmental impacts of the textile industry as well as potentially decreasing the processing costs.