Kim TW  Park GH  Kong WB  Lee YW

Vol. 24,  No. 1, pp. 1-8, Mar.  2018
10.7464/ksct.2018.24.1.001

Supercritical dyeing Supercritical carbon dioxide Solubility Distribution coefficient Mass transfer Commercialization

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As the social demands for environmental pollution increase and regulations on the dyeing process wastewater are strengthened, supercritical dyeing process has been attracting attention as an alternative technology to reduce wastewater and energy consumption. In the supercritical dyeing process where carbon dioxide is used as a solvent instead of water as a solvent, there is no wastewater generated. The unfixed dyes can be reused later which makes the process environment-friendly. Also, after dyeing process, dried textiles can be obtained without additional drying process, which makes the process energy efficient. In this article, we have summarized the development of the supercritical dyeing process along with the research in Korea today and compared the principle of supercritical dyeing process with conventional dyeing process. To further explain the principle, studies of the distribution factor and mass transfer of dyes in supercritical carbon dioxide and fibers, as well as solubility between supercritical CO2 and dyes are discussed. The dynamic behavior of dyes in supercritical dyeing apparatus and summary of the supercritical dyeing facilities developed around the world are also discussed. Finally, we suggest the direction of research and development for optimization of supercritical dyeing process and application to synthetic fibers and natural fibers except for polyester.