Effect of reactive anionic agent on dyeing of cellulosic fibers with a Berberine colorant

Berberine, a natural cationic colorant, is the major component of Amur Cork tree extract. Due to ionic interactions, while it shows high exhaustion towards protein fibers such as wool and silk, it exhibits little substantivity onto cellulosic fibers. In this context, in order to apply the colorant to cellulosic fibers, the new approach of employing the anionic agent containing a dichloro-s-triazinyl reactive group was conducted. Berberine could display considerable substantivity towards anionic agent finished fibers. It was found that the anionic agent was covalently bonded to the cellulosic substrates by virtue of the covalent nature of its attachment to the fibers and also gave anionic sites to the substrate for electrostatic interaction with cationic Berberine. The effectiveness of the anionic agent in improving the exhaustion of Berberine on the cellulosic fibers was achieved.