Dyeing and Modifying Textile Fibers

Textile dyeing and fiber modification sit at the intersection of chemistry, materials science, and manufacturing, examining how pigments, enzymes, and reactive agents alter the structure and surface properties of fibers like wool, cotton, and silk. Beyond color, modern research in this area addresses functional outcomes — making fabrics antimicrobial, biodegradable, or suitable for biomedical use, as in keratin-based scaffolds derived from waste wool. A central tension driving current work is how to achieve these performance gains while reducing the water consumption, toxic effluent, and energy costs that have long made conventional dyeing one of the more environmentally burdensome steps in textile production. Open questions include how enzymatic and ionic-liquid-based processes can scale economically, and how natural dye systems can be engineered for the colorfastness and consistency that industrial supply chains require.

Works

64,722

Total citations

423,639

Keywords

TextilesDyeingNatural DyesKeratinAntimicrobialBiomedical Applications