Updated : October 2020
Biomaterials are gaining increased attention in recent years in the fashion industry and several researchers are working to explore their potential for use as sustainable textile fibres. This review article provides details on the same, with an emphasis on PLA.
It mainly focuses on understanding the dyeing and chemical processing of biopolymers for use in textiles. For PLA, the study compares its chemical and dyeing properties with PET and suggests that PLA is more advantageous over PET due to its easily crystallizable nature which enhances its properties of strength, shrinkage and bulk and chemical processing.
The article provides references from various experimental studies on PLA to understand its suitable chemical structure for textiles, dyeing conditions and its improved dyeing properties over synthetic polymers. Advantages of PLA on dye-fibre bonding, fastness properties and major textile end uses are also discussed.
The study shows that PLA has the potential to be a sustainable material for textile applications owing to its improved properties over synthetic fabrics, in particular, PET. and more research would enable its application on a large scale.
Read More: Potential of polylactic acid fibres for textiles - a review
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