Durable antibacterial cotton fabric fabricated using a “self-created” mist polymerization device

Abstract

There are two major problems associated with the use of antibacterial cotton fabric. The durability of the fabric is poor, and the inherent properties of the fabric deteriorate following the execution of the finishing processes. These limit the application of antibacterial fabric. We first treated the cotton fabric with acryloyl chloride (AC) molecules to make the surface of the fabric rich in carbon‑carbon double (C=C) bonds. Following this, the [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (DMES) monomer was polymerized with the CC bonds on the fabric following the “grafting through” method. As a result, the cotton fabric was successfully grafted with the poly[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (PDMES), exploiting covalent bonds. The finished fabric exhibited excellent antibacterial effects. The bacterial reduction (BR) rates of the finished fabric against E. coli and S. aureus were greater than 99.0 %. Even after 50 washing cycles, the BR rates of the finished fabric against E. coli and S. aureus were greater than 96.0 %. In addition, the use of the “self-created” mist polymerization technology ensured that the inherent properties of the finished fabric were retained to a large extent. Therefore, the antibacterial cotton fabric prepared following this method can be potentially used for the fabrication of industrial and household textiles.