Investigation into the effect of UV/Ozone Irradiation on the dyeing ‎behaviour of Poly(lactic acid) and Poly(ethylene terephthalate) ‎Substrates

The effect of UV/Ozone irradiation together with the pretreatments using distilled water, hydrogen peroxide, and hydrogen peroxide/sodium silicate solutions on the dyeing depth of the poly(lactic acid), PLA, and poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, fabrics by the application of disperse dyes were investigated and the results were compared with that of untreated fabrics. The results showed that the reflectance and the L* of the treated fabrics decreased and these reductions maximized by the pretreatment of the fabrics with the hydrogen peroxide/sodium silicate solution. The SEM images of the fabrics showed a change in the surface morphology of the treated fabrics which is attributed to the intensified etching effect of the UV/Ozone irradiation.