Abstract
Cotton fabrics are highly popular because of their excellent properties such as regeneration, bio-degradation, softness, affinity to skin and hygroscopic properties. When in contact with the human body, cotton fabrics offer an ideal environment for microbial growth due to their ability to retain oxygen, moisture and warmth, as well as nutrients from spillages and body sweat. Therefore, an anti-microbial coating formulation (Microfresh and Microban together with zinc oxide as catalyst) was developed for cotton fabrics to improve treatment effectiveness. In addition, plasma technology was employed in the study which roughened the surface of the materials, improving the loading of zinc oxides on the surface. In this study, the low stress mechanical properties of plasma pre-treated and/or anti-microbial-treated cotton fabric were studied. The overall results show that the specimens had improved bending properties when zinc oxides were added in the anti-microbial coating recipe. Also, without plasma pre-treatment, anti-microbial-treatment of cotton fabric had a positive effect only on tensile resilience, shear stress at 0.5° and compressional energy, while plasma-treated specimens had better overall tensile properties even after anti-microbial treatment.
Highlights
Many apparel products are made of cotton because their porous hydrophilic structure offers comfort in wear [1]
When plasma pre-treated fabrics were subjected to anti-microbial treatment, the PM1 specimen showed the highest RT values because the fuzzy fibrils on the fabric surface are removed while at the same time, plasma pre-treatment enhanced the absorption of MF-MB, resulting in a better crosslinked structure having a greater ability to recover from stretching
MF-MB-zinc oxide (ZnO) and MF-MB-nano-ZnO coating formulations were used as effective antimicrobial agents for coating cotton fabric, with or without plasma pretreatment
Summary
Many apparel products are made of cotton because their porous hydrophilic structure offers comfort in wear [1]. The ability of cotton textiles to retain moisture, oxygen and nutrients results in an ideal medium to accommodate microbes. These microbes have many negative effects such as generation of unpleasant odors, stains, decolorisation of the material and a decrease in fabric mechanical strength [2,3]. Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) is used in this study for determining low stress mechanical properties in terms of tensile, shearing, bending, compression and surface properties, which are commonly used for expressing fabric handle in textile and apparel sectors, to evaluate effects of plasma pre-treatment and anti-microbial treatment of cotton fabrics. This paper may provide useful information for researchers in the fields of textiles, healthcare and plasma
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
