Phthalocyanine green aluminum pigment prepared by inorganic acid radical/radical polymerization for waterborne textile applications

Int J Ind Chem (2017) 8:17–28 DOI 10.1007/s40090-016-0084-x RESEARCH Phthalocyanine green aluminum pigment prepared by inorganic acid radical/radical polymerization for waterborne textile applications Benjamin Tawiah1,2 • Benjamin K. Asinyo2 • William Badoe2 • Liping Zhang1 • Shaohai Fu1 Received: 16 January 2016 / Accepted: 17 May 2016 / Published online: 15 June 2016 Ó The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Polymer-encapsulated phthalocyanine green aluminum pigment was prepared via inorganic acid radical/ radical polymerization route, and its properties were investigated by FT-IR, TGA, XPS, SEM, and TEM. SEM and TEM images showed that the aluminum pigment was encapsulated by a thin film of polymer which ensured good anti-corrosive performance in alkaline (pH 12) and acidic (pH 1) mediums. XPS results showed significant chemical shifts, and increase in binding energies to higher levels after raw aluminum pigment was phosphate coated and colored by phthalocyanine green pigment. TGA results suggest a marginal reduction in its thermal stability. Major absorbance peaks, such as aluminum phosphate (AlPO4), different monomer units and CH2 stretching vibration of phthalocyanine green G were highlighted in the FTIR spectra of the colored aluminum matrix. The polymer-encapsulated aluminum pigment (PAP) had excellent UPF properties regardless of the coating thickness, but the handle of the fabric was affected when the coating thickness increased beyond 0.04 mm. The prepared pigment showed excellent rubbing and washing fastness, but its handle and color strength were compromised when the content of monomer ratio by 100 % weight of PGAP increased beyond 10 %, was applied on cotton fabrics. This research provides a simple but effective route for the & Benjamin Tawiah 1 Key Laboratory of Eco-Textile, Jiangnan University, Ministry of Education, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu, China 2 Department of Industrial Art (Textiles), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Private Mail Bag, Kumasi, Ghana preparation of polymer-encapsulated aluminum pigments for waterborne textile applications. Keywords Aluminum pigment  Phthalocyanine green  Polymer encapsulation  Radical polymerization  Inorganic acid radical Introduction Colored aluminum pigments having colorful pigment adhered closely, uniformly and firmly on its surface are suitably used in paints, automotive metallic finish, printing inks, molded resins and in decoration finish of plastics [1–3]. The application of aluminum pigment has expanded into security services, including the military, due to its high emissive properties and the ability to reflect IR rays in the solar spectrum [4–7]. Recently, colored aluminum pigments have been used in plastic components of objects, such as boats or buoys, to make them visible to RADAR detection due to their ability to reflect in the electromagnetic radiation [5, 8]. These and many other functional properties of aluminum pigments have rekindled research interest lately. Traditionally, colored aluminum pigments are prepared by physically mixing colorful pigments with silver white aluminum pigments which makes it difficult to achieve vivid color tones because, the achromatic tone inherent in aluminum pigment is usually emphasized [2, 9, 10]. These pigments are usually common in the automotive industry where volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are commonly used as the medium for their application. These pigments, however, are not suitable for textiles applications where water play a major role throughout the manufacturing process to the care phase, hence the need to develop 123 18 Int J Ind Chem (2017) 8:17–28 excellent fastness to different solvents, heat, light, weathering [15, 25] was chosen and adsorbed onto aluminum pigment having adsorption layer of inorganic acid radical with the green colorful pigment adhered to said adsorption layer. The phthalocyanine green G colored aluminum pigment was then coated with a polymer using radical polymerization, and its properties were investigated. The application of both techniques overcome the limitations of classical polymerization and corrosion inhibition methods and provides an efficient route for preparing colored aluminum pigment having excellent properties. waterborne colored aluminum pigment for textiles applications. To surmount these problems, several techniques have been proposed as a solution to obtaining waterborne colored aluminum pigment by depositing pigment onto the surface of an aluminum pigment with the aid of polymeric coatings [9, 11–13]. Other researchers have suggested a route where silica is coated onto aluminum pigment using sol-gel method followed by color deposition with the aid of surface modification agents [9, 10], but the issue of corrosion and color deformation still persisted after a long exposure to high alkaline waterborne systems. As a result, the use of colored inorganic flaky materials, such as mica flakes, has been suggested [13–15]; which gives a pearly color tone of their own. The use of popular techniques, such as metal organic chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, laser cladding, and thermal spraying, has also been thoroughly investigated [16–18]. Meanwhile, drawbacks such as low hiding power, poor metallic luster, and lack of color vividness have persisted because of the difficulty in depositing ample amount of colorful pigment onto the surface of aluminum pigment [7, 12]. Recently, the traditional wet chemical coating methods using silica-coated aluminum pigments (Al/SiO2) or phosphates as precursor materials with dyes have been reported [19, 20], but problems such as poor corrosive stability, color fading, and complicated preparation process have still remained [1, 9, 21]. The use of inorganic acid radical for coating aluminum pigment has been reported to enhance its corrosion protection ability and ensure uniform coating [12, 22–24] hence its extensive application in corrosion chemistry. Meanwhile, the application of inorganic radical/radical polymerization for coloring silver white aluminum pigment with phthalocyanine green G has not been reported. The main object of this research is to provide aluminum pigment colored to the highest chroma by depositing phthalocyanine green G pigment on the surface of aluminum pigment, thereby improving the chroma and avoiding the issue of color fading and exfoliation inherent in conventionally pigment colored aluminum pigments. To achieve these objectives, a colorful pigment (phthalocyanine green G) with inherently high tinctorial strength and Experimental Materials Aluminum pigment (particle size 50 lm) was purchased from Tianjiu Metal Materials Co., Ltd., Changsha, China. Allyloxy nonyl alcohol polyoxyethylene (10) ether sulfate (DNS-86), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), N-|3-(aminoethy1)-y-aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane (Silane Si–602) (structure is shown in chat 1b) were purchased (...truncated)