Objectives: Textile auxiliaries are commonly used in many textile wet processes including dyeing and printing. Herein, we criticize the different methods used in the synthesis and applications of binders in pigment printing of textile fabrics.
Methods: Binders are used to hold the color onto the textile surface when applying pigments for textile printing. Most of the binders used in textile printing are based on the addition of polymerization systems. When a binder is applied with pigment to textile, it forms a three-dimensional network, this is due to the binders being considered as a film-forming from long-chain macromolecules.
Findings: The choice of binders depends on the final fastness properties as well as the cost requirements of the process. Many different binders were developed for other purposes, resulting finally in the use of emulsions. This led to an increase in the use of pigments in textile printing and the binder has become one of the basic matters utilized in the printing paste. Biopolymers would be appropriate elements in the production of eco0frienddly binders suitable for benign printing of textile substrates.
Novelty: This review presents some negotiable points regarding the binder's functions together with its chemistry, synthesis as well as its mode of action, and its effect on the extent of fixation of the pigment on the printed textile surface.