{"paper_id":"4c06e57a-ac92-4aba-9bc0-487f3cfb2ebe","body_text":"Non-aqueous reverse micellar reactive dyeing of polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB)-exhausted griege and semi-bleached cotton fabric with biodegradable secondary alcohol ethoxylate (SAE) surfactant | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Non-aqueous reverse micellar reactive dyeing of polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB)-exhausted griege and semi-bleached cotton fabric with biodegradable secondary alcohol ethoxylate (SAE) surfactant Yiu Lun Alan Tang, Ho Shing Law, Yin Tung Lam, Shixin Jin, Cheng Hao Lee, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8219907/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study aims at investigating the applicability of polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) exhaustion treatment as pretreatment and evaluating its effectiveness and performance on greige and semi-bleached cotton woven fabric dyed in aqueous and non-aqueous reverse micellar octane medium. The colour, surface, fastness, antibacterial and tensile properties of the PHMB-exhausted samples were assessed. Experimental results demonstrated that the PHMB exhaustion pretreatment contributes to the significant increase of colour strength of the greige fabric samples in both aqueous and reverse micellar dyeing system when compared with that of the semi-bleached fabric samples. The presence of sodium chloride (NaCl) in aqueous dyeing system could achieve higher colour strength in sacrifice of the colour levelness. SEM images revealed that the surface of the PHMB-treated samples was rougher wrapped with a layer containing PHMB particles. The PHMB treatment imparted different degree of antibacterial properties to both greige and semi-bleached fabric with the presence of inhibition zone against S. aureus. Non-aqueous dyed samples exhibited better antibacterial activity than that of the aqueous dyed samples. The tensile strength and breaking extension of both undyed greige and semi-bleached fabrics increased after PHMB treatment while dyeing in conventional water-based and nonaqueous reverse micellar system resulted in reduction of the tensile properties of the PHMB-treated samples. Secondary alcohol ethoxylate Cotton fabric Reactive dyes Non-aqueous dyeing Reverse micelle polyhexamethylene biguanide Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 13 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 13 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 27 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {\"props\":{\"pageProps\":{\"initialData\":{\"identity\":\"rs-8219907\",\"acceptedTermsAndConditions\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":false,\"archivedVersions\":[],\"articleType\":\"Research Article\",\"associatedPublications\":[],\"authors\":[{\"id\":591137231,\"identity\":\"02d8ffce-db89-45d7-ac16-159b5bf9d8d0\",\"order_by\":0,\"name\":\"Yiu Lun Alan Tang\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Yiu\",\"middleName\":\"Lun Alan\",\"lastName\":\"Tang\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":591137233,\"identity\":\"5924cbb7-99ea-4c94-81d0-be858183e240\",\"order_by\":1,\"name\":\"Ho Shing 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