Clean printing of cotton fabrics using novel environmental‐friendly phthalocyanine‐monoazo reactive dyes.

Application of reactive dyes with low fixation in textile coloring field has caused discharges of colored wastewater and waste of resources. In this work, to reduce the discharge and improve the utilization, three novel reactive dyes (D1, D2, D3) with high reactivity based on copper phthalocyanine‐azo skeleton were designed and synthesized, and the structures were characterized by UV–vis, FT‐IR, and 1H NMR. All these dyes had large molar extinction coefficients, and they presented violet, brown, and dark‐violet colors. The printing performances on cotton fabrics of the dyes were investigated. Results show that the printing properties of the dyes on fabrics were not obviously affected by alkaline concentration, urea concentration, and steaming time. In addition, the printing process leaded to colorless wastewater, and the fixations on cotton fabrics of D1, D2, and D3 were all close to 100%, illustrating high utilization of the novel dyes. The design and application of this kind of reactive dye could provide a significant approach for reducing the discharge of colored wastewater and saving energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]