Water-Based Pigment Digital Inkjet Dyeing of Cotton Fabric Using of Self-Cross-Linking Grafted Silicone Polyacrylate Emulsions

“Spraying instead of dyeing” is a new clean dyeing technology that can achieve low/no water washing and shorter processes for cotton fabrics, which is conducive to the transformation, upgrading and sustainable development of textile printing and dyeing. In this paper, a self-cross-linking grafted silicone polyacrylate (SGSP) latexes were first prepared as a binder. Then, the pigment digital inkjet was used on cotton fabrics without washing, achieving energy saving, emission reduction, and carbon reduction. The effects of the mass of methacryloyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-MA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) on the hydrophobicity, thermodynamics, and mechanical properties of latex films were investigated, and the influences of pigment digital inkjet dyeing process on the wearability of spray-dyed cotton fabrics (SDCF) were studied. Results indicated that when the mass of PDMS-MA was 30 wt% and the GMA was 3%, the SGSP latex film had excellent hydrophobicity and mechanical properties. Meanwhile, under the process conditions of binder dosage of 30%, baking temperature of 160°C, and baking time of 4 min, SDCF had low hardness, good air permeability, and the color fastness to rubbing to the level of commercially available binders. This study presents clean dyeing technology and provides a valuable outlook into the future of binder production and application.