Liposome as dispersing agent into disperse dye formulation

Disperse dyes are very hydrophobic molecules which are usually milled in the presence of large amounts of dispersing agents (synthetic surfactants) in their commercial form. In this study the synthetic surfactants are substituted by phosphatidylcholine liposomes in the dye preparation, in order to use natural and biological surfactants. The turbidity ratio was calculated to assess the dispersion behavior of different liposome-dispersed dye preparations compared with commercial dye forms. Results indicate that liposomic preparations diminish the aggregation of dye molecules that normally occurs at high temperatures. Our findings demonstrated the potential efficacy of liposomes as natural surfactants which can be applied to disperse dye formulations to dye polyester fibers with good dye exhaustion and washing fastness. This environmentally friendly biological surfactant, phosphatidylcholine, duly structured as liposomes, can substitute high amounts of synthetic dispersing agents in disperse dye formulations.