Preparation of highly hydrophobic dyes and their dyeing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fabric

Conventional dyes are difficult to add color to ultra-high molecular weight poly-ethylene (UHMWPE) fibers. To address this problem, 1-hydroxy-4-p-toluylaminoanthraquinone and halogenated hydrocarbons were selected as raw materials, and three high hydrophobicity purple dyes, i.e. 1-p-toluylamino-4-anthraquinone hexyl ether, 1-p-toluylamino-4-anthraquinone decyl ether and 1-p-toluylamino-4-anthraquinone tetradecyl ether were prepared through Williamson etherification reaction. The target product was characterized and analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Chem3D Ultra 8.0 software. The UHMWPE fabric was dyed through a high-temperature and high-pressure dyeing process, and the dyeing properties were discussed. The results show that with the increase of alkyl substituents, the hydrophobicity of modified dyes gradually increases, and the affinity with UHMWPE fabric is significantly enhanced. When the substituent carbon number is 14, the affinity between the dye and the fiber becomes 11.18 kJ/mol, and the rubbing color fastness and soaping color fastness reach grade 4-5. © 2022, Periodical Agency of Journal of Textile Research. All right reserved.