Sustainable preparation of nano monodispered ATP based color master batch and its application in PA6

As a representative of dope-dye, the color masterbatch method has been widely applied in modern dyeing processes, while it has difficulties in solving the dispersibility of inorganic pigments color master batch in the polymer matrix. In this work, attapulgite (ATP) was used as the adsorption carrier of inorganic pigments to prepare color-dyed attapulgite (CD-ATP). The selected environmentally friendly inorganic pigments were well adsorbed by ATP in KOH aqueous solution, and could stably be monodispersed in KOH aqueous solution for more than 168 h. Moreover, the KOH aqueous solution could be reused repeatedly, thereby, a sustainable method to prepare novel CD-ATP was realized. By blending the as-prepared CD-ATP with polyamide-6 (PA6), a series of dope-dyed colorful PA6 composites was prepared. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) results indicated that the CD-ATP was still monodispersed in the PA6 matrix, and endowed PA6 with a vivid color. Further studies show that the adding of CD-ATP had little influence on the properties of PA6, but significantly reduced the water adsorption. This novel color-dyed ATP has potential implications in making paper-making blankets and is highly expected to have more extensive applications in many fields of life.