Development of a highly hydrophobic and antimicrobial surface for polyester fabrics treated with (vinyl acetate versatic ester/paraffin wax) blend containing sodium chloride using electron beam irradiation

Abstract

This article presents the use of electron beam irradiation to create a highly hydrophobic and antimicrobial surface for polyester fabrics (PEF) based on paraffin wax and vinyl acetate versatic ester (VAVE) in the presence of sodium chloride. This was carried out in three steps; the first step includes the formation of paraffin wax emulsion (PWE) under specific conditions. The second step involves adding varying amounts of PWE (5, 10, and 15 phr) to VAVE under the influence of ultrasound to produce a VAVE/PWE/NaCl blend. While the third step involves submerging the PEF into the prepared blend for some time, then eliminating the excess of the mixture from the surface of the PEF using the film applicator after it was brought out, then exposing the PEF saturated with the blend to 10, 20, and 30 kGy of electron beam source. Various properties of the prepared blend, such as contact angle, water absorption, mechanical properties, FTIR, and antimicrobial activity, were investigated. The results showed that the optimum amount of PWE added to VAVE to produce the blend was 10 phr under 20 kGy using 6 % NaCl, which gives the highest contact angle of 115° with a significant improvement of the remaining properties. After investigating the zone of inhibition (ZOI) results, the synthesized samples are possessed antimicrobial potential against the tested pathogenic microbes like P. mirabilis, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans. The highest inhibition percentage (antibiofilm activity) of the synthesized PEF/F2, PEF/F5/20kGy, and PEF/F6/20kGy were documented for S. aureus (55.55 %, 60.20 %, and 88.18 %), followed by C. albicans (49.25 %, 55.68 %, and 80.19 %), and P. aureginosa (48.25 %, 50.12 %, and 79.58 %), respectively. The quantity of bacterial protein released from the cell is directly proportional to the increased concentrations of the synthesized samples (at different diameters; mm) and counted to be 40.25, 80.98, and 190.58 μg/mL following the treatment with samples PEF/F2, PEF/F5/20kGy, and PEF/F6/20kGy, respectively.