Surface Graft Polymerization of Acrylamide onto Plasma Activated Nylon Microfiber Artificial Leather for Improving Dyeing Properties

To improve surface wettability and dye-ability of Nylon microfiber artificial leather, we apply oxygen plasma treatment and subsequently graft-polymerize acrylamide (AAm) on the surface. The surface properties of AAm-grafted Nylon microfiber artificial leather are characterized by FT-IR, SEM, ESCA and dyeing density (C.I.reactive Blue 4). The dyeing rate of AAm-grafted Nylon microfiber artificial leather, up-regulated with higher acrylamide grafting concentration, increases to 67.1 mg/cm2, and remains 66.4 mg/cm2 after rinsed by water, showed better stability than that of control and oxygen plasma modified Nylon microfiber artificial leather. The water-absorptivity of s-graft acrylamide is five times than that of control. From the results, the efficiency and density of dyeing are both improved, indicating that plasma graft polymerization process could contribute to promote the absorption of dye on the artificial leather.