Relations between viscoelastic parameters of hydrophobic fiber and dyeing with disperse dyes

Abstract

Experimental evidence is presented to show that the kinetics of dyeing of hydrophobic fibers with disperse dyes can be represented by an equation of the same form as the well-known equation giving creep in fibers. A mechanism is proposed whereby one can regard the dye uptake in the fiber at a constant temperature as a viscoelastic phenomenon in the dye-polymer system. A comparison of these two equations enables the dyeing constants to be interpreted in terms of the viscoelastic parameters of the system. It is also possible to find the upper bounds for the dyeing rate and a condition for rapid dyeing on the same basis.