Improving the digital to garment inkjet printing properties of cotton by control the butyl acrylate content of the surface treatment agent

Abstract

Direct to garment inkjet printing (DGIP) is an eco-friendly textile dyeing method that utilizes a simple process with a small amount of ink for textile products. In general, water-based pigment ink is printed on the surface of cotton; however, due to the high hydrophilicity of cotton's surface, the ink is absorbed excessively, which causes ink smearing, low color strength, and unstable wet rubbing fastness characteristics. In this study, the surface treatment agent (STA) for DGIP, which improved the color strength, wet-rubbing fastness of cotton, and STA dispersion stability characteristics, was enhanced by controlling the butyl-acrylate (BA, soft segment) and the vinyl-acetate (VA, rigid segment) ratios. The wet-rubbing fastness improved as the BA ratio increased though the color strength and ink sharpness properties deteriorated. The total K/S color strength of the surface-treated cotton using the BA30 condition was improved by 30% wet rubbing fastness class 3-4 than neat cotton, and the ink smearing phenomenon was verified to decrease. Ultimately, an optimal STA condition was established by adjusting the ratio of BA and VA wt% where the DGIP characteristics of printed cotton verified that these were the simplest parameters to adjust for optimal impact.