Confocal Raman study of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibres dyed in supercritical carbon dioxide: dye diffusion and polymer morphology

Confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) has been used to extract dye diffusion data from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibres dyed with Disperse Yellow 23 under supercritical CO2 conditions. Spectral information as a function of depth was measured in a non-destructive manner using dry and oil objectives in confocal Raman mode. Mapping along the radius of the fibre cross-section was performed and compared to the data from the confocal measurements. A significant dye concentration gradient has been observed along the line normal to the fibre surface which the data from the oil confocal measurements accurately describes to a depth of 45 μm. The effect of the supercritical CO2 dyeing process on the fibre morphology has also been evaluated using CRM.