Effect of Different Mordants on Cotton Cloth Dyed with Aspergillus and Penicillium Dyes

Abstract

Natural dyes are an important alternative to potentially harmful synthetic dyes. This research was conducted using three kinds of Aspergillus dyes and six kinds of Penicillium dyes. In this study, Aspergillus and Penicillium were grown in mineral salts glucose medium. Premordanting technique was followed using different mordants, namely alum, CaCO₃, CuSO₄ 5H₂O, FeSO₄ 7H₂O, K₂Cr₂O₇ and MnSO₄ H₂O on cotton cloth. The colour of filtrate and range of colours developed on dyed materials were measured by RHS colour chart. The results indicated that the colour of dyed cloth was influenced by the addition of mordants, and  different shades were obtained from the same dye filtrate using different mordants. FeSO₄ 7H₂O was found as the most influential mordant. The present study shows a new source of fungal dyes, which can be used as an alternative for dyeing cloth.