Novel Pyrimidinethione Hydrazide Divalent and Trivalent Metal Complexes for Improved High-Performance Antimicrobial and Durable UV Blocking Cellulosic Fabric

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV)-protective and antimicrobial cotton fabrics are necessary for the protection of our skin. In this article, a pyrimidinethione hydrazide (PTH) derivative ligand was complexed with Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd as divalent metals and Fe and Cr as trivalent metals to prepare highly antimicrobial and UV-blocking metal–pyrimidinethione hydrazide-modified cotton fabrics (M-PTH-C). The cotton sample treated (M-PTH) was found to show improved efficiency over pyrimidinethione hydrazide-modified cotton (PTH-C). Cadmium-PTH-C showed the highest performance of antimicrobial action against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria), Escherichia Coli (Gram-negative bacteria), and Candida albicans (fungi) with zones of inhibition 31 mm, 18 mm, and 27 mm, respectively. Furthermore, all M-PTH-C samples showed no effect against Candida albicans, except Co, Ni, and Cd pyrimidinethione hydrazide-modified cotton with inhibition zones of 16 mm, 27 mm, and 22 mm. In addition, no compounds showed any activity against Aspergillus flavus except Cd-PTH-C, which gave an excellent performance, with a 33 mm inhibition zone. Furthermore, most modified cotton fabrics have excellent UV protection. Fe-PTH-C showed 113.3 as the highest Ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) compared to the other modified samples. The tensile strength test of all samples was also investigated. The values of tensile strength for the treated cotton samples are slightly affected compared to the untreated ones.