Silk textile finished with natural dyes and UV resistance agents from agricultural waste Aloe vera rinds

Abstract

Aloe vera is an agricultural resource widely used in many fields, but it has not been fully exploited as a biological dye in textile substrates. This work explored an approach for using Aloe vera rinds (AVRs) for the simultaneous dyeing and UV-protective functional finishing of silk fabrics. The optimal extraction conditions and the chemical composition of Aloe vera dye (AVD) were investigated. The colour parameters, colour-fastness, and UV-protective properties of silk fabrics dyed with AVD were tested. The results showed that the extracts mainly included polyphenols and flavonoids. The dyed fabrics obtained a colour depth (K/S) of 7.9447 and > 4 grades of colour-fastness to washing and rubbing without using a mordant. The dyed fabrics exhibited a surprising ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of 2075.76 and remained at 1241.23 after 25 washing cycles, which was much higher than standard recommended. This research provides a method for the value-added management of agricultural waste for natural dyeing and functional finishing of textiles.

Keywords:

• Agricultural waste
• Aloe vera rinds
• silk
• natural dye
• UV-resistant

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.