Nanoparticle finishes influence on color matching of cotton fabrics

Color change is one of the most important side effects of textile treatments to be considered. This research focuses on color modifications occurring on dyed cotton fabrics due to the nanoparticle sized dendrimer (DWR), dendrimer-fluorocarbon (DWOR) and fluorocarbon (FWOR) finishing. A remarkable influence of finishing onto DR (reflectance difference) and DE (color difference) of fabrics was observed. Roughness of treated surfaces also plays a relevant role in determining the reflectance and colour changes. In fact, roughness increases the scattering of light thus decreasing surface reflectance. Finishes particle sizes designate the distribution and orientation of surface roughness and the overlay of their absorbance values in the short wavelength results in color differences. Thanks to the nanoparticle size, the highest performances are achieved in some typical textile finishing applications: water and oil repellency induced by finishing on cotton textile and mechanical characteristics of the fabric have been here deeply investigated.