Cleaner dyeing of textiles using plasma treatment and natural dyes: a review

Natural dyes are gaining more attention due to their non-toxic and eco-friendly nature. However, dyeing with natural dyes has limitations and is challenging to apply, as they possess some inherent demerits, such as less or no attraction towards the textile substrate, requirements of mordant, fixers and other chemicals for fixation onto the textile substrates, lower yield and color fastness, which have restricted their potential in the industrial-scale application. Plasma treatment has proved that it can be used as an environmentally friendly approach to improve dyeing uptake of textiles with natural dyes. This review addresses the effect of plasma treatment on surface modification of most used natural (wool, cotton, and silk) and synthetic fibers (polyester, nylon, and acrylic) and its subsequent effects on their dying with natural dyes. This review provides a clear view of the combination of cleaner pre-treatment and sustainable resources for dyeing textiles to reduce wastewater and toxic chemicals for cleaner production.