The Effect of alkaline pretreatment on the performance of digital inkjet printing and sublimation printing on polyester and cotton-polyester blend fabrics

Abstract

Nowadays, digital inkjet printing and sublimation printing have become the center of attention in the clothing and fashion industry due to their outstanding features, such as quick and stable printing, ease of implementation, and high-resolution printing. This study studies the effect of alkaline hydrolysis on digital inkjet printing and sublimation printing on polyester and cotton-polyester blend fabrics. The effects of three main factors, including alkaline hydrolysis, color, and color depth, were investigated using a full factorial design on the response variables, namely color strength (K/S), lightness (L*), and chroma (C*) of the printed fabrics. The results indicated that the three independent factors significantly impacted color strength in inkjet printing on polyester, as well as on cotton-polyester fabrics and sublimation printing on cotton-polyester fabrics. Additionally, it was observed that the three independent factors had a significant impact on the lightness variable in inkjet printing on both fabric types. All three independent factors significantly affected the chroma for both printing methods on cotton-polyester fabrics. Generally, the findings indicate a direct relationship between alkaline hydrolysis pretreatment and enhanced printing quality.