Optimization and evaluation of a blue light photoinitiating system for textile inkjet printing

Abstract

A blue light curing process was developed to solve the nozzle clogging challenge commonly encountered in conventional textile pigment printing, by using camphorquinone (CQ) and ethyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EDMAB) as a photoinitiator combination and substituting oligomers and monomers for a polymeric binder. High light absorption efficiency was insured by closely matching the spectrum of the photoinitiator with a custom-made blue light light-emitting diode set-up. Kinetic analyses of such a CQ/EDMAB system indicated that the maximum polymerization rate of the monomer was proportional to [PI]0.5 and [I0]0.5, while excessive high photoinitiator concentration (>1 wt%) will decrease the polymerization rate because of the “filter effect.” With optimized blue light curable pigment ink formula and irradiation conditions, the photocurable pigment printed fabrics exhibited uniform and vibrant colors, clear outlines, and excellent wet and dry rubbing fastness of grades 4 and 4–5, respectively.