Mimicking the champagne colour of commercial satin silk integrating the extract from Eupatorium adenophorum with metal ions – An economic solution to tackle with invasive plants

Abstract

Reutilizing invasive plants for fabric dyeing and functionalization is a welcomed strategy, which not only tackles with the consequent environmental hazards, but also economizes the organic carbonaceous substances in alignment with the carbon neutralization mission. This study introduces a precise colour imitating strategy for champagne satin silk combining the extract of invasive Eupatorium adenophorum (EAE) with metal mordant. Importantly, a referable approach based on mathematical simulation is developed for controllable mordant dyeing process. Research found that the main components in the EAE are two flavonoids (marigold glycoside and 4′-methyl ether marigold glycoside). The stability of EAE is well remained in water under heating below 100 °C for up to 60 min which lays fundamental in its application on textiles. In terms of the mordant types, the silk dyed with EAE/Ti⁴⁺ exhibits much closer colour hue to the targeted champagne colour than those with EAE/Al³⁺ or EAE/Fe³⁺. The a* and b* value dots are well distributed along with the fitting line indicating their good linear relationship. Such result demonstrates the stable colour hue of EAE/Ti⁴⁺ dyed silk, and the colour saturation is manageable by altering the concentration of EAE/Ti⁴⁺ couple during dyeing. Based on the established relationship between the EAE/Ti⁴⁺ concentration and K/S value, a theoretical mordant dyeing condition (EAE for 72.38 % owf and Ti⁴⁺ for 0.81 g/L) is generated to achieve the target K/S value. After washing, the silk dyed with EAE (100 % owf) and Ti⁴⁺ ion (0.4 g/L) restricts the K/S variation from 57 % to 16 % compared with the case without mordant. However, over loading of Ti⁴⁺ ions reversely reduces the fastness. Additionally, the UPF of treated satin silk exceeds 98. In general, this study establishes a new method for colour imitation of synthetic dyed silk using invasive plant extract, which pushes forward the development of natural dyeing and functionalization techniques.