Effect of Gamma Radiation on Dyeing of Cotton Fabric with Reactive Blue 13

The effect of gamma radiation on the dyeing of cotton with Reactive Blue 13 dye powder has been investigated. The cotton and dye powder are irradiated to absorb doses of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 Gy by using a Co-60 gamma irradiator. Dyeing is performed by using irradiated and un-irradiated cotton with irradiated and un-irradiated dye powder, in order to observe the effect of radiation treatment on the colour strength of the reactive dye on cotton. Different dyeing parameters such as temperature, time and p H are optimized using irradiated cotton and dye powder. The effect of gamma irradiation on the colour strength and Lab values has been observed through optimized conditions of dyeing. The colour strength and Lab values are obtained by spectra flash spectrophotometer (SF650). ISO standard methods are employed to study the effect of gamma radiation on the Colourfastness properties of fabric. It can be demonstrated that gamma irradiation not only improves the colour strength of the dye in irradiated cotton, but also enhances the Colourfastness properties.