The hydrophobicity and swelling of methyl cellulose coating synergistically enhancing the inkjet printing qualities of cotton fabric

Textile coated by natural polymer is an industrial method for enhancing the inkjet printing qualities. However, the hydrophobic modified polymer coating has been rarely reported. Here, the effect of hydrophobic methyl cellulose (MC) coating on the inkjet printing qualities of cotton fabric was investigated and compared with commonly used sodium alginate (SA) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) coatings. The results show that all three polymers could improve the sharpness and color depth of inkjet printing. However, the effect of the MC coating was far better than the SA and CMC coatings, which results from the different functional groups of the three polymers. Methyl groups make MC coating hydrophobic, while the SA and CMC coatings exhibit hydrophilicity. The hydrophobicity and swelling of the MC coating could synergistically reduce the spreading and penetrating of ink droplets. SA and CMC coatings rarely reduced the flow of ink droplets and only preserved part of ink by the swelling property. This work reveals the action mechanism of the polymer coating. And it is confirmed that the hydrophobic natural polymer coating is more effective than the hydrophilic coating to enhance the inkjet printing qualities.