Anthraquinone dyes and their derivatives are a type of colorants with excellent color properties, light
and wet fastness and are widely used as dyes, pigments, and colorants in cosmetics, drugs and foods.
Furthermore, they have a variety of interesting biological activities and pharmacological effects, such
as antiviral, antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory, and to prevent osteoporosis
and hypoglycemic activity. The photostability of two blue anthraquinone reactive dyes, synthesized
by as in water solution and dyed samples of cotton and paper have been investigated. A comparative
analysis has been made with two commercial direct dyes from the Solenis PergasolTM range. The
dyeing of cotton fabrics was carried out with dyes at 2% depth o.w.f. Aiming to prepare woodfree
paper for printing and packaging, wet-end chemical additives have been added, in the following
sequence: dye fixative – 1% of o.d.f., dye – 0.6% of o.d.f., sizing agent – 1% of o.d.f. and retention
additive – 0.05% of o.d.f. The optical properties – L*, a*, b*, C*, and h* from the CIE Lab color
space of the resulting textile and paper samples have been examined. As a result of the studies carried
out it was found out that the photostability of the examined reactive dyes is about 20-25% higher than
that of direct dyes. Bearing in mind that the color characteristics of the dyed samples of cotton and
paper do not change significantly during irradiation, it could be concluded that the synthesized
anthraquinone dyes are suitable for dyeing of cellulosic materials.
