The production of textile materials comprises a very large and complex global industry that utilises a diverse range of fibre types and creates a variety of textile products. As the great majority of such products are coloured, predominantly using aqueous dyeing processes, the coloration of textiles is a large-scale global business in which complex procedures are used to apply different types of dye to the various types of textile material. The development of such dyeing processes is the result of substantial research activity, undertaken over many decades, into the physico-chemical aspects of dye adsorption and the establishment of ‘dyeing theory’, which seeks to describe the mechanism by which dyes interact with textile fibres. Physico-Chemical Aspects of Textile Coloration provides a comprehensive treatment of the physical chemistry involved in the dyeing of the major types of natural, man-made and synthetic fibres with the principal types of dye. The book covers: fundamental aspects of the physical and chemical structure of both fibres and dyes, together with the structure and properties of water, in relation to dyeing; dyeing as an area of study as well as the terminology employed in dyeing technology and science; contemporary views of intermolecular forces and the nature of the interactions that can occur between dyes and fibres at a molecular level; fundamental principles involved in dyeing theory, as represented by the thermodynamics and kinetics of dye sorption; detailed accounts of the mechanism of dyeing that applies to cotton (and other cellulosic fibres), polyester, polyamide, wool, polyacrylonitrile and silk fibres; non-aqueous dyeing, as represented by the use of air, organic solvents and supercritical CO2 fluid as alternatives to water as application medium. The up-to-date text is supported by a large number of tables, figures and illustrations as well as footnotes and widespread use of references to published work. The book is essential reading for students, teachers, researchers and professionals involved in textile coloration.

At the beginning of this series of volumes on Color Chemistry, the editors pointed to a number of events that have served as stimuli for techno logical advances in the field, thus preventing dyestuff manufacturing from becoming what might otherwise be viewed by now as a 'sunset industry'. The volumes which followed have provided ample evidence for our belief that the field of colour chemistry is very much alive, though arguably in need of further stimulus. For instance, a viable approach to the design of new chromophores and to the design of metal-free acid, direct, and reactive dyes having fastness properties comparable to their metallized counterparts represent the kind of breakthroughs that would help ensure the continued success of this important field. While it must be acknowledged that serendipity 'smiled' on our discipline at its inception and has repeated the favor from time to time since then, few would argue against the proposition that most of the significant advances in the technology associated with any scientific discipline result from research designed to enhance our understanding of the fundamental causes for experimental observations, many of which are pursued because they are unexpected, intriguing and intellectually stimulating. Little reflection is required for one who knows the history of the dyestuff industry to realize that this is certainly true in the colour chemistry arena, as it was basic research that led to fiber-reactive dyes, dyes for high technology, and modern synthetic organic pigments.