A Study on Employing AAS to Determine Metal Absorption Capacity of Natural Dyes

<strong>Name of Scholar: </strong>A Study on Employing AAS to Determine Metal Absorption Capacity of Natural Dyes<br><strong>Brief About Scholar: </strong> The global market for ecofriendly textiles is influencing manufacturers to increase utilization of natural dyes. Most of these dyes require excess mordants (metallic salts) for effective substantiation. In order to minimize effluent load of unused mordant that is discharged, ideal dye-mordant combinations need to be established. This research employed atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) to measure and compare the amount of metal retained by fabrics in the absence and presence of natural dye. Individual combinations of copper sulfate and iron sulfate with dyes derived from Acacia catechu and Acacia nilotica on cotton and wool were evaluated. Mordant concentrations of 5, 10, 15 and 20 grams per litre (g/l) of the first mordant and 3, 5, 10 and 15 g/l of the second in combination with 10 g/l of dye were investigated. Dyeing was carr
ied out by the padding process sequence of pad à dry à steam (dye) followed by pad à steam à dry (mordant). Dyeing was done only for 15 g/l copper sulfate and 5 g/l iron sulfate. Process sequence and parameters were selected based on earlier work AAS results confirm that wool absorbs slightly more metal than cotton. The presence of dye significantly increases the amount of metal absorbed by fabrics irrespective of dye or mordant. The dyed fabrics possessed satisfactory fastness properties. Unmordanted fabrics may find applications as metal filters.<br><strong>Name of Institution: </strong>Kumaraguru College of technology<br><strong>Previous Research Papers: </strong>Nil<br>