Study on the Influence of Nitrogen Plasma on Dyeing Properties of Rex Rabbit Fibers

The surface of rex rabbit fibers is hydrophobic in nature because of the presence of the hard cuticle on its surface, and this hydrophobicity may give rise to many problems in the dyeing and finishing processes. In order to improve its dyeability and decrease dye pollution in sewage discharge, nitrogen plasma was used to modify rabbit fibers and after that the modified fibers were dyed with the anionic dyestuffs (C.I. number 16185). The effects of nitrogen plasma on the dyeing properties and the dyeing behavior for the rex rabbit fibers were studied, the related parameters including the treatment time and discharge power were optimized. Surface morphology and roughness of rex rabbit fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscopy. XPS and FTIR-ATR were further performed to determine the surface chemical compositions of rex rabbit fibers. The physical properties of rex rabbit fibers were characterized by tensile strength tests. The results show that nitrogen plasma treatment can remove surface scales on the rex rabbit fibers and introduce more active groups such as hydroxyl (–OH), carbonyl (–C=O), and amino (–NH₂) on the surface of the fibers, which makes rex rabbit fibers have better dyeability, and effectively improves dyeing rate and dye fixation rate.