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2010 by Chong Chi Ping, Mich Koh En, Pal, Sures Miss Lisa Boon and Mr Kong Chung

Ang (NBSS Science Teachers) Miss Ivane Tay (RP Advisor)

Hypothesis
In this project, some hypotheses were considered as follows: Different vegetables, fruits or spices can dye different fabric. The chemical composition of fibers and the chemical nature of the dye determine the stickiness of the dye on the fabric. The use of mordant not only it can intensify the colour but also increase the interaction of the fiber to the dye. The post treatment of the dyed fabric with acid or base can make the dye stay permanent.

Materials
The following are the materials used in this project:

Blueberry Dragonfruit (Flesh & Skin) Red Cabbage Tumeric Pomengranate Lime Orange Chrysanthemum Strawberry Beetroot Onion skin-purple Onion skin-brown Blender Beaker (Boiling & Measuring) Tripod Stand

Bunsen Burner Wire Gauze Distilled Water Knife Chopping Board Weighing Scale Forceps Fabric used: 100% nylon 35% wool Baskets Paper towels Stop watch Glass rod Strainer

Procedures
(A) Selection of the dye material (fruits, vegetables or spices). (B) Extracting the dye from the dye material. (C) Enhancing the dyeing by pre-treatment of the fabric. (D) Dyeing the fabric(Nylon and Wool) swatches(10 cm by 10 cm) (E) Post-treatment of fabric with hydrochloric acid and base (sodium hydroxide). (F) Soak the fabrics in water for a day.

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Experiment 3

Experiment 4

Experiment 5

Experiment 6

Reason for Pre-treatment

For the dyes to interact with the fibers more effectively, a mordant is used.
Most natural dyes need a mordant to fix the color to the fiber. The mordant is the chemical link that fixes the dye to a substrate by combining with the dye pigment to form an insoluble compound. The choice of mordant is very important as different mordants can change the final color significantly. Hence, alum mordant is used in these experiments as it gives bright colours.

Nylon

Nylon is a good fiber due to the amide groups, which are strongly attracted to each other. The chains form strong bonds which hold onto each other are called hydrogen bonds, which make nylon strong. The dyeing efficiency of nylon fibers is enhanced due to the end groups -COOH and -NH2, which exhibit polar and hydrophilic characteristics.

Wool

The bonds present in wool are disulfide bonds, isopeptide bonds, hydrophobic interactions and hydrocarbon side groups interactions. The ionic interactions between acidic and basic side chains are the most important interactions because they are amphoteric.
They are able to absorb and desorb both acids and alkalis, thus controlling the dyeing behavior of the fabric.

Post-treatment with Acid vs. Base

Post treating the dyed fabric with acid are thought to fix the dye to fibers by hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals forces and ionic bonding.
Synthetic Nylon fibers contain many cationic sites therefore there is an attraction of anionic dye molecule to a cationic site on the fiber. The strength (fastness) of this bond is related to the desire/ chemistry of the dye to remain dissolved in water over fixation to the fiber. Hence, we can see the effectiveness of post-treating the dyed fabric to be effective in keeping the colours. Post treating the dyed fabric with base are mainly applied to acrylic fibers, but find some use for wool and silk. Hence, we can see the result of post treating the dyed fabric to be ineffective in keeping the colours.

Conclusion
From the evidence collected from the experiments, we concluded that: (i) pre-treatment with alum have a slight effect on the intensity of the colour after pre-treatment of both fabrics (ii) tumeric produces the best dyed fabric (iii) the dyed fabric that has the colour closest to the colour of the dye material is nylon. This could be due to the stronger bonding between nylon and the dye material than between wool and the dye material. (iv) post-treating the dyed fabric with acid is more effective than posttreating with base because the acid helps to fix the dye to fibers by hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals forces and ionic bonding.

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