Surface-modified and micro-encapsulated pigmented inks for ink jet printing on textile fabrics

Surface-modified and micro-encapsulated pigment dispersions were formulated into pigmented ink jet inks and their properties were analyzed. The changes in viscosity, and particle size distribution, and ink stability were observed every week for 12 weeks at ambient temperature. All the ink jet ink properties were in the operational range. As for appearance and color, the surface-modified pigmented inks printed on a silk fabric yielded higher optical densities, better tone reproduction, wider color gamut, and a larger gamut volume than the micro-encapsulated pigmented inks. For permanence and usability, the micro-encapsulated pigmented inks gave better fastness; the wear comfort of the printed silk fabric, evaluated by the bending stiffness, indicated a negative effect on the pre-treatment of the fabric. Surface pre-treatment of the textile fabrics affected color, appearance, permanence and usability. Despite almost equal numbers of threads, the fabric bending strength in the weft direction was much stronger than that in the warp direction.