Supercritical fluid technology as a sustainable alternative method for textile dyeing: An approach on waste, energy, and CO2 emission reduction

Abstract

The clothing industry is considered one of the most polluting industries on the planet due to the high consumption of water, energy, chemicals/dyes, and high generation of solid waste and effluents. Faced with environmental concerns, the textile ennoblement sector is the most critical of the textile production chain, especially the traditional dyeing processes. As an alternative to current problems, dyeing with supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) has been presented as a clean and efficient process for a sustainable textile future. Supercritical fluid dyeing (SFD) has shown a growing interest due to its significant impact on environmental preservation and social, economic, and financial gains. The main SFD benefits include economy and reuse of non-adsorbed dyes; reduction of process time and energy expenditure; capture of atmospheric CO₂ (greenhouse gas); use and recycling of CO₂ in SFD; generation of carbon credits; water-free process; effluent-free process; reduction of CO₂ emission and auxiliary chemicals. Despite being still a non-scalable and evolving technology, SFD is the future of dyeing. This review presented a comprehensive overview of the environmental impacts caused by traditional processes and confronted the advantages of SFD. The SFD technique was introduced, along with its latest advances and future perspectives. Financial and environmental gains were also discussed.

Keywords: Cleaner production; Energy saving; Supercritical dyeing; Sustainable processes; Textile industry; Water free dyeing.