Statistical optimization of wool dyeing with Alizarin Red S as a natural dye via central composite design

Recently a revival interest in the use of natural dyes in textile coloration has been growing. The major parts of natural dyes are anthraquinones. Depending on substituents, anthraquinone compounds are dyes, as represented by Alizarin Red S (ARS) which is a major constituent of the natural colorant madder. In this study, colorization of wool fiber by ARS as a natural dye was studied. The progress of the colorization process was followed spectrophotometrically at 500 nm as λmax. The effective factors on the process were investigated using one factor at a time (OFT) method. Then, the central composite design (CCD) method was applied to design experiments for the evaluation of the interactive effects of the four most important operating variables. The values of the optimized factors for OFT and CCD methods in wool dyeing with ARS were respectively as follow: temperature 70 °C and 55 °C, L/R: 40/1 and 40/2, pH 5.0 and 2.5 and time 60.0 min and 42.0 min. The predicted results by CCD had significantly higher exhaustion percentages and relatively better fastness properties than OFT and were found to be in a good agreement (R2=0.9908) with those obtained by performing experiments. Finally, the obtained results were shown a good wash fastness for dyed wool with ARS.