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NOMEX T-450 TYPE NYLON

Nomex is relatively recent addition to Du Pont's family of man-

made fibers. While generically a nylon, it will not melt or burn
under ordinary conditions, and begins to char only at 700F. in
fact, at the melting temperature of conventional polyesters and nylons, over half of the room
temperature physical properties of Nomex are retained. Of considerable advantage in apparel use is
the fact that the nonflammability is an inherent part of the molecular structure and remains
unchanged by laundering or dry-cleaning.

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Nomex can be dyed with cationic dyes at 250F with 40 g/l of a
special, low-foaming, emulsifiable benzaldehyde mixture, designated TLF-2791. The mixture has the
advantages of high effectiveness, ease of handling, ease of removal from goods, low toxicity and
biodegradability.

The effectiveness of TLF-2791 is maximum for most dyes at approximately 40g/l.


 

Electrolytes are the most effective exhausting aids known in the benzaldehyde
system for Nomex, and many such components have been evaluated. Sodium nitrate is the most
attractive electrolyte because of its effectiveness, low cost, maintenance of shade brightness and
the lack of corrosion of stainless steel equipment.

Use of sodium nitrite at 25 g/l is recommended; this level significantly improves dye exhaustion,
while the cost of dyeing is only slightly increased.

Sodium nitrite also helps to stabilize CI Basic Green 6 which would be destroyed and rearranged to
an undesirable non substantive Red compound under certain pH conditions. This dye is extensively
used on Nomex because of its relatively good light fastness.

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Since the physical properties of Nomex are little affected in the pH range 2-9, the pH
selected for dyeing depends upon the stability of the dyes. Usually pH 3-6 is used since most cationic
dyes are stable in that range. It is necessary, of course, to use a consistent pH for any given shade to
obtain good shade reproducibility. Most dyers paste cationic dyes with acetic acid to aid in
dissolution. This practice usually insures a pH of 3-4. If adjustments are needed, formic acid is
recommended for lowering the pH, while tetra sodium pyrophosphate (TSPP) I recommended for
raising the pH.
For shades containing CI Basic green 6, the pH of dyeing must be below 3, because of the tendency
of the dye to decompose above pH 3. The dye alone will lower the pH of the bath to about pH 2.8,
and no pH adjustment is generally needed. However it will be desirable to add formic acid to pH 2.5
as a standard practice for all shades in which CI Basic Green6 is used. Laboratory work indicates that
the cationic dyes which are useful on T-450 are under these conditions.






The depth of the dye achieved is proportional to the temperature of the dyeing.
Rates effects have been removed from the comparison by dyeing for four hours in each case. Since
the practical limit of most dyeing equipment is 250F most of the experimental data reported here
have been obtained at that temperature.

When dyeing below pH 3, unlevel dyeing may result from the rapid strike of some
dyes. Careful control of the temperature rise will allow enough migration of the dye on the surface
of the fiber to the produce level dyeing even at low pH. The rata of rise should not exceed 3F/min,
and temperature should be held for 10 to 15 minutes at 175F and at 220F.

* 


The TLF-2791 system for dyeing T-450 (using 40g/l TLF-2791 and 25 g/l sodium
nitrate) is sensitive to volume ratio. The depth of shade obtained decreases as the volume ratio
increases. It is preferable therefore, to us the lowest liquor ratio possible. Beam dyeings often
achieve as low as 12 to 1, and yarn package machines can go as low as 8 to 1. There are definite
economic advantages to using low liquor ratios which minimize the chemical cost and increase the
dye utilization.

 
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     In a typical dying of Nomex, the dye is exhausted from the
bath in a very short time. Most of the dye is exhausted from the bath in 15 to 30 minutes at 250F.
Examination of the fiber, however, reveals that dye penetration into the fiber is more gradual,
requiring about two hours for maximum shade build up.

A two step dyeing mechanism may be postulated to explain this behavior. In the first step, a solution
of the dye in benzaldehyde coats the fiber. Cationic dyes are more soluble in benzaldehyde than in
water, and partition themselves almost exclusively in benzaldehyde. In the second step, which is rate
determining; the dye in the benzaldehyde solution diffuses into the fiber. Although this description
of the dyeing process fits the data, it is a speculative description, since not nearly enough study has
been given to the subject to describe the dyeing mechanism accurately and quantitatively. The
important point is that, for commercial dyeing, the exhaustion of the dye bath should not be used as
an indicator of the progress of a dyeing of Nomex.

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   Many classes of dyes have been applied to Nomex, including cationic,
disperse, Vat, acid and acid premetalized. However considerations such as lightfastness and
crockfastness make cationic dyes the only practical dye class for commercial use with present
technology.

The number of cationic dyes which are useful on Nomex is restricted by the poor
lightfastness and the tendency of the fiber to discolor upon exposure to light prohibits most light
shades, and makes adequate lightfastness difficult to obtain even in medium shades.

Individual dyes have much improved lightfastness in very heavy depths on Nomex. This
makes it possible to obtain a range of deep shades for industrial protective clothing in which
lightfastness of 20 to 40 Carbon-Arc Fade-Ometer hours in available. Total dye concentration in the
bath for these shades is 7.5 to 10.5% on weight of fiber. Fastness ratings for washing, crocking and
drycleaning are not usually a problem on Nomex; ratings of "4" or better are usually obtained for
AATCC A washfastness, crockfastness and dry-cleaning fastness tests.

The particularly poor lightfastness of Blue dyes on Nomex makes it necessary to avoid their
use whenever possible. CI Basic Green 6 is used to obtain the dullness needed for shades such as
brown and grays. For this reason it is extremely used on Nomex. No other dye is known which
exhibits as good lightfastness and which absorbs in the 600 to 700 millimicron wavelength regions
which is covered by blue dyes on other fibers.

 


  Following the recommended technology, a typical procedure for dyeing Nomex in
piece form consists of the following steps.

A procedure for the purpose of removing the producer finish and the weaver's size is accomplished
with a nonionic detergent; for example, 1.0% Moerpol HCS surface-active agent (owf), and TSPP to
pH 8-9 may be used. After the size has been removed, the bath is set by first adding the pasted and
dissolved dye, then 40g/L TLF-2791, and, finally, 25 g/l sodium nitrate.

Circulation should be continued during all additions and for 10 minutes after additions are
completed. The pH should be checked and adjusted as necessary with formic acid or TSPP. Then, to
ensure level dyeing, the temperature should be increased at 3F/min to 175F, held for 15 minutes,
raised to 220F, and again held for 15 minutes Then, the temperature should be raised to 250F and
the dyeing run for two hours. Dye adds should be made by lowering the temperature to 160F,
making the add, and raising the temperature slowly to 250F. Dye adds should be run a minimum of
30 run a minimum of 30 minutes at 250F before evaluation.

To minimize benzaldehyde vapors in the dye house, the dye bath temperature should be
cooled to 120F before opening the machine. The bath may then be dropped, followed byoverflow
rinsing to 80F.benzaldehyde and surface dye are removed from the fiber by scouring with 5.0%
sodium bisulfate and 1.0% of a nonionic detergent such as Merpol HCS and running at pH 7 for 15
minutes at 180F, followed by adequate sensing to 80F. If a second after scour is necessary to remove
trace benzaldehyde odor in the goods, the cycle is repeated using half of the original sodium
bisulfate and Merpol HCS.







´Y AATCC, July 29, 1970; Dyeing Nomex type 450 Nylon
´Y www.ehow.com
´Y DuPont's official site