Ecofriendly reactive printing of cellulosic fabric with sustainable novel techniques

Climate change poses a pervasive global threat to humanity, and regrettably, the textile industry stands as the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions due to its large supply chain. Pollution involves various sub-sectors, including water pollution, where urea emerges as a hazardous chemical detrimental to both human health and aquatic life. This research is dedicated to fostering a sustainable, urea-free approach in the printing of cotton fabric by altering the reactive printing recipe and methodology. Three modified trial recipes (T1, T2, T3) and one controlled conventional recipe (C) were tested. The C included sodium alginate (2%), urea (15%), and sodium bicarbonate (2.5%). In contrast, the modified recipe trials incorporated polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) in the replacement of urea. A total of four recipes (one C and three modified T1 with 1% PEG 400, T2 with 2% PEG 400, T3 with 3% PEG 400 in the printing paste recipes) were examined using two monochlorotrizaine reactive dyes (Reactive C.I. Red 45, Reactive C.I. Violet 01). Characterization like shade variation, dye penetration into the fabric, sharpness of the edges, tinting on the adjacent white fabric, acidic and alkaline perspiration fastness, washing fastness, rubbing fastness, and fabric hardness, affirmed that T2 recipe yielded the best results in fabric testing, cost reduction, and water pollution reduction while increase in the PEG 400 concentration from 2 to 3% have no significant change in the overall results. This research is a contribution in sustainable reactive printing of cellulosic cotton fabric.