Coloration of textiles with self-dispersible carbon black nanoparticles

Cotton, wool, acrylic and nylon fabrics can be directly dyed by using surface modified carbon black (CB), self-dispersible carbon black (SDCB), nanoparticles through an exhaustion process. The SDCB nanoparticles were prepared by refluxing CB particles in nitric acid for certain time to result in hydrophilic carboxylic groups on their surfaces. The SDCB nanoparticles behaved similarly to direct or acid dyes in dyeing cotton, acrylic and nylon fibers. The SDCB nanoparticles were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and particle size analyzer. The SDCB-dyed fabrics showed good colorfastness against crocking. However, the wash fastness of the nanoparticle-dyed cotton fabrics is relatively lower than the crocking fastness due to the hydrophilic feature of the SDCB nanoparticles. Direct employment of the nanoparticles in dyeing opens new applications of nanotechnologies in textile production.