Microencapsulation of acid dyes in mixed lecithin/surfactant liposomic structures

Non-uniformity occurring in polyamide dyeing, caused by the rapid uptake of dye by the fibers, can be reduced by retarding and leveling agents. The objective of this work is to study microencapsulation of the dye in liposomes with lecithin from soy, as an alternative to retarding and leveling agents. Liposomes are prepared with soy lecithin at different concentrations, containing the commercial acid dye C.I. Acid Blue 113. The effect on the dyeing rate of the microencapsulated dyes is compared with that from common retarding and leveling agents. The influence of surfactants on the stability of the liposomes and hence on the exhaustion curves of the dyeing is evaluated, exhaustion curves from anionic and a non-ionic surfactants are comparable to those from commercial retarding and leveling agents.