Modification of cotton fabrics with 2-diethylaminoethyl chloride for salt-free dyeing with anionic dyes

Abstract A chemical modification of cotton fabrics by 2-diethylaminoethyl chloride (DEAE-Cl) was achieved, and the resulted demonstrated salt-free dyeing properties with anionic dyes. Nucleophilic property hydroxyl groups in cellulose enhanced under alkaline conditions could react DEAE-Cl, a possessing both nucleophilic electrophilic sites. The monolayered DEAE-grafted further DEAE-Cl to form multiple cationic quaternary ammonium salts (denoted as DEAE@Cotton), which are highly interactive dye molecules. strong electrostatic interactions between DEAE@Cotton dyes eliminated use inorganic process. structure were characterized compared untreated cotton. can be dyed system, exhaustion faster than conventional method due robust outstanding color fastness repeated washing, light exposure, crocking. adsorption process on follows Langmuir isotherm model (R 2 = 0.9667). mechanism dyeability experimentally proved treating fabric other proving environmentally friendly cost-effective. Graphic abstract