Background Natural dyes are gaining popularity due to their environmental and health benefits over synthetic products, which are facing regulations due to hazardous effects, promoting the use of plants as eco-friendly alternatives. Objective This study was aimed at exploring binary colorant from berry (Zizyphus jujube ) and henna ( Lawsonia inermis ) leaves extracts for colorfast artificial intelligence optimized dyeing of microwave (MW) treated unmordanted and mordanted cotton fabrics. Methods The binary plant extract and cotton fabrics were exposed to microwave (MW) treatment for 1–9 min using the dyeing and radiation conditions. The colorfast dyeing was assisted via central composite design, pre-, and post-mordanting techniques Results Sustainable chemical- and bio-mordant (0.5-2.5 g/100 mL) incorporated new shades with excellent fastness properties onto the dyed cotton fabrics. It has been concluded that 7 min MW-rays treated cotton fabric using acidic binary dye extract of pH 5.5 having 1.5 g/100 mL salt at 50 °C gave colorant yield of 85.42% higher than that of untreated dyed cotton fabric counterpart. The shades made before and after mordanting developed new colorfast garments. Conclusion The study revealed microwave treatment as an environmentally friendly surface treatment method with excellent potential for textile modification and surface response methodology as an artificial intelligence technique for optimizing dyeing process.
Yameen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.