Pseudo single-bath process for alkali treatment and bleaching of jute at ambient temperature

Abstract

Grey jute fibre has been alkali-treated and bleached at ambient temperature using sodium hydroxide by different process sequences namely true single-bath process of alkali treatment and bleaching, and pseudo single-bath process of

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">alkali treatment and bleaching and then cold dyed with Procion Red M8B and Remazol Yellow FG. The effect of process sequences on physico-chemical properties of jute fibres has been evaluated. It is observed that the alkali treatment for 1 h using 60 gpl sodium hydroxide and 1:3 material-to-liquor ratio following the pseudo single-bath alkali treatment and ambient temperature bleaching process gives the optimum dyeing results. The treated fibre samples show sufficiently high whiteness index and dye uptake. The increase in dye uptake is about 18% in case of Procion Red M8B and about 42% in case of Remazol Yellow FG. As all the treatments have been carried out at ambient temperature, this process is highly suitable for cottage and small-scale industries in rural areas.</span>