Effect of silk sericin pre-treatment on dyeability of woollen fabric

Abstract

Silk fibres consist of sericin and fibroin. 20-25% of silk fibre is sericin. Sericin is biodegradable, antibacterial, and UV resistant. In this study, silk sericin protein was applied to wool fabric as a pre-treatment. Wool fabrics pre-treated with silk sericin were dyed with Eriofast Red B and Eriofast Blue 3R dyestuffs. Colour and reflectance measurements of the dyed wool samples were carried out. Washing, rubbing, light fastness properties were explored. Moreover, hydrophilicity, nitrogen content (Kjeldahl Method), FTIR and ESCA analysis were performed on the sericin applied wool fabric samples. Pre-treatment with sericin was found to increase the hydrophilicity level of wool fibres. Pre-treatment with silk sericin also increased the colour yield of wool fibre dyed with Eriofast Red B and Eriofast Blue 3R. It was determined that the wool fibre fabrics pre-treated with sericin displayed sufficient colour and colour fastness values even after dyeing at lower dyeing temperatures.