College of Business

A growing interest in the use of naturally produced pigments for textile dyeing has led to increased efforts towards the identification of such pigments that are less toxic, more sustainable, and more stable over time than currently used synthetic compounds. This work utilised various concentrations of green, red, and yellow pigments extracted with dichloromethane from the wood-staining fungi Chlorociboria aeruginosa, Scytalidium cuboideum, and S. ganodermophthorum, respectively, for the effective dyeing of bleached cotton, spun polyamide (nylon 6.6), spun polyester (Dacron 54), spun polyacrylic, and worsted wool. All three pigments utilised in this study show significant potential for use as textile dyes. Colour changes suggested that drip application methods were superior to submersion using dichloromethane. Colour changes as compared with the untreated fabrics were most significant on polyester, which is likely due to increased levels of polymer swelling in polyester exposed to dichloromethane.

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