Durable functionalization of cotton fabric using vanillin as reactive UV protective finish without hampering basic textile properties

Abstract

Vanillin has been explored exponentially since the last decade due to its inherent functional properties such as antimicrobial activity, UV resistance, fragrance as well as antioxidant activity. Although vanillin has reactive groups such as –OH and –CHO, it cannot be integrated directly into cotton textiles to impart durable functionalities. Because these reactive groups do not form any covalent bond in parent form with the cellulosic backbone and due to its smaller size, its physical bonding with cellulosic structure is also not strong enough to retain themselves into cotton substrates. In the current study, for the first-time, vanillin reactive finish (VRF) has been prepared, characterized using various analytical techniques such as FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy and successfully integrated on cotton fabric. The study substantiates that VRF can transform cotton fabric to an excellent UV resistant textile without altering its color and other basic physical properties (such as bending length, absorption, air permeability and tensile strength, etc.) of the fabric. The washing study has been performed to investigate the wash durability of the finish into cotton fabric. It has been observed that VRF can be retained inside the cotton structure very effectively through covalent bond formation and thus ultra-violet protection (UPF) of the treated textile remains nearly 50 even after 18 machine wash cycles. The presence of finish on the functionalized fabric, even after washing, has been reaffirmed by SEM EDX analysis.