Afterclearing of disperse dyed polyester with gaseous ozone

The efficiency of ozone treatment for the clearing of disperse dyed polyethylene terephthalate fibres has been examined. The ozone treatment for the clearing of the dyed samples was performed by blowing the ozone gas from the ozone generator on to the wet fabric samples. The results indicated that 3- and 5-min ozonation times were appropriate to achieve comparable wash fastness results with conventional reduction clearing without significant colour differences (?E* value) for the samples dyed with CI Disperse Yellow 23 and CI Disperse Blue 79, respectively; however, the ozonation time had to be increased to 15 min for CI Disperse Red 82. Tensile strength tests and scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that the ozone treatment did not cause any severe damage to the fabrics. Ozone treatment for the afterclearing of disperse dyed polyester fabric can lead to energy and time savings and environmental load reduction when compared with conventional reduction clearing. This study tested a new method of ozone application for clearing of disperse dyed polyester by blowing ozone directly on to the fabric samples. This new method of application has the advantage of being readily adoptable for continuous treatment lines and lower water consumption.