In this research, we succeeded to introduce a novel two-step procedure for chemical modification of cellulose fibres with antimicrobial activity, which included the pad-dry-cure method to apply a reactive inorganic-organic hybrid sol-gel precursor (RB) followed by the in situ synthesis of AgCl particles on the RB-treated fibres. This process enabled the preparation of fibres with highly effective and durable antimicrobial properties at a sufficient concentration of AgNO3 in the solution. The results showed that this application process yields the following important benefits: (i) the in situ synthesis enabled a simple and environmentally friendly preparation of AgCl particles from AgNO3 and their embedment into the fibres; (ii) the presence of the RB silica matrix increased the fibres’ capacity for adsorbing AgCl particles compared with the same fibres without RB; (iii) the AgCl particles were bound to the RB silica matrix by physical forces, which allowed for their controlled release from the fibres; (iv) the modified cellulose fibres provide a 100% bacterial reduction even after 10 repeated washing cycles; and (v) chemical modification did not significantly change the fibres whiteness, wettability or softness.
COBISS.SI-ID: 36032773
This study confirmed that an effective superhydrophobic and oleophobic two-component sol-gel coating with antibacterial properties could be prepared on cotton fabric with an optimal concentrations of the sol-gel precursors and application procedure. Cotton fabric was treated with two organic-inorganic hybrid precursors, i.e. fluoroalkyl-functional siloxane (FAS) and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propyldimethyloctadecyl ammonium chloride (SiQAC). Two different application procedures were used: a one-step (S1) treatment of the cotton samples by a sol mixture consisting of both precursors and a two-step (S2) treatment of the cotton by SiQAC sol and then FAS sol. Although application procedure S1 is more effective in the production of coatings with water- and oil- repellent properties, application procedure S2 provides higher antibacterial activity, as well as better washing fastness of the coating. A preferable application procedure cannot be determined on the basis of these results. The choice certainly depends on the required functional properties of the coating, but the greater technological, economic and ecological benefits of the one-step application procedure, in which a sol mixture is applied in a single stage, should be considered.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2664560
Microcapsules with antimicrobial agent triclosan in the core and melaminformaldehyde wall were synthesized. They were applied onto cotton fabric by using flat-screen printing. Polyacrylate binder was used for fixation of microcapsules onto fibres. The fabric printed with antimicrobial microcapsules showed good antimicrobial effect against bacteria Escherichia coli in Staphylococcus aureus tested by standard SIST-EN ISO 20645: 2005. The effect remained even after washing of the fabric.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2689392
Bleached, mercerised cotton fabrics were used in this research. In the first phase, the dyeing of cotton fabrics with a blue vat dye Bezathren Blau BCE was performed, and in the second phase, the dyed fabrics were immersed into a colloidal silver solution. The colloidal silver solution was prepared via synthesis from AgNO3 and reduced with NaBH4. Parent cotton fabrics were immersed into the colloidal silver solution as well. A comparison of the quantity of silver on the parent and vat-dyed cotton fabrics was performed. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) revealed a silver content that was almost two times higher on the dyed and silver-treated cotton fabrics. All samples (parent and dyed) treated in the colloidal silver solution showed excellent antimicrobial activity. The fibre surfaces were imaged using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The mechanical properties of vat-dyed and vat-dyed silver-treated fabrics and the wash fastness of silver-treated samples were determined.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2680432
Air permeability is one of the fundamental textile properties influencing the design of comfortable clothes. In particular, it is very important in the field of technical textiles. Air permeability depends mainly on the fabric structure, which can be described by yarn linear density, type of yarn, warp/weft density and weave. The purpose of our study was to identify a small number of parameters that have the strongest influence on air permeability of cotton fabrics and enable its good prediction. Rather than focusing on the constructional parameters, we decided to include a composite parameter known from the theory of fluids, hydraulic diameter of pores, which treats rectangular-shaped pores as circular ones. In addition to the hydraulic diameter of pores, two other parameters were used for the prediction of air permeability: the number of macro pores and the total porosity of woven fabrics. 36 woven fabric samples were produced using nine frequently implemented weave types together with two warp densities (29.3 and 22 ends/cm) and two weft densities (15 and 20 picks/cm), resulting in four different densities of woven fabrics. The yarns had the same linear density and material in warp and weft directions. Air permeability measurements were performed with the Air Permeability tester FX 3300 Labotester III (Textest Instruments) according to the ISO 9237:1995 (E) standard. Principal components analysis revealed that the four investigated plain weave specimens behave differently than the other samples, which might be explained by weave structure. This multivariate statistical method also confirmed the appropriateness of the three selected parameters for air permeability prediction which was done using multiple linear regression. High adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.94 indicates that the model explains variability in the air permeability to a large extent.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2649200