NATURAL COTTON PRINTING WITH RED MACROALGAE BIOMASS OF GRACILARIA GRACILIS AND GRACILARIA CORNEA

• Main Authors: SIMONA Moldovan, MARCELA Ferrandiz, Mª ANGELES Bonet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Editura Universităţii din Oradea 2017-05-01
• Series: Annals of the University of Oradea: Fascicle of Textiles, Leatherwork
• Subjects: algae; lyophilized biomass; textile; natural pigments; sustanability
• Online Access: http://textile.webhost.uoradea.ro/Annals/Vol%20XVIII-No1-2017/Textile/Art.nr.%20218-pag.%2061-66.pdf
• ISSN: 1843-813X; 2457-4880

Environmental protection is gaining popularity in our society due to the accentuated and irresponsible use of natural resources. Consequently, measures need to be taken in all of the demanding industries, including the textile one, as more sustainable alternatives to the actually employed synthetic dyes. One of the solutions can be represented by the utilization of algal biomass as colorant matter. Therefore, this research work aimed the validation of the employment of lyophilized algal biomass in a conventional pigment-printing process. Two different Gracilaria genus species were employed for the comparison of color efficiency and printing suitability, Gracilaria cornea and Gracilaria gracilis. The printing process results revealed brown-red and pink uniformly printed cotton substrates, with good color strength (K/S=11,66 and 23,7 respectively) and good to excellent behavior (analyzed according to greyscale) to rubbing and laundering fastness. Both printed cotton fabrics proffer a special pattern generated by the algal biomass. In conclusion, lyophilized red algal biomass can be employed in the conventional printing process on cotton substrates with no need for previous pigment extraction treatments. This study can serve as a research line opener for further investigation in the application of algae in the textile finishing process.