Tone in Tone Dyeing: Attempt to use Dye Encapsulated Silica Nanospheres in Leather Dyeing

Abstract

A commercial leather dye was encapsulated into silica by simplemicroemulsion technique and applied as dyeing agent in leatherdyeing process. Comparative studies on the performance of freedye (non-encapsulated) towards encapsulated dye are evaluated.The resultant formation of nanospheres contain dye inside thesilica matrix was investigated by UV-Visible, TEM (TransmissionElectron Microscopy) and DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering)measurement. The confinement effect was identified by theformation of spherical particles of the silica through encapsulation.On whole the spectroscopic studies showed that the formed silicananospheres are stable enough to utilize as dyeing agent in leatherdyeing process. The performance of encapsulated nanosphereswas evaluated by utilizing as dyeing agent for upper and garmentleather processing. The dye entrapped inside the silica spheres hadbetter affinity towards the leather as demonstrated by theiruniform penetration throughout its cross section and its surfacecoloring. The dyeing properties of the encapsulated dye wereappraised by color and fastness measurement. The results showedthat the dyeing characteristics of the experimental leathers weregreatly improved by using encapsulated dyes versus their controlleathers. Hence the idea of supporting commercial dye on/insidepolymeric silica substrate enriched the leather dyeingcharacteristics and provide the clue for any dye for any substrate.