Two novel halogenated triazine amine N-halamine antimicrobial precursors, sulfuric acid mono-(2-{4-[4-chloro-6-(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidin-4-yloxy)-[1,3,5]triazin-2-ylamino]-benzenesulfonyl}-ethyl) ester sodium (PT) and sulfuric acid mono-(2-{4-[4-(3-pyridinecarboxylic sodium)-6-(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidin-4-yloxy)-[1,3,5]triazin-2-ylamino]-benzenesulfonyl}-ethyl) ester sodium (CPT), were designed, synthesized, and applied onto cotton fabrics to obtain antibacterial properties. The molecular structures of PT and CPT contained two reactive groups of vinyl sulfone and nicotinic acid, which increased the reaction with cotton fabrics compared with other antibacterial agents. The dyeing process of reactive dye was selected as the finishing method due to the similar structures of antibacterial agents to bifunctional group reactive dyes. The treated cotton fabrics were chlorinated with sodium hypochlorite to obtain antibacterial functionality. The chlorinated fabrics achieved outstanding antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus with short contact time. Moreover, the stability measurement exhibited that the chlorine on the samples could be repaired by the diluted sodium hypochlorite solution after washing and long-time storage. In addition, the mild low-temperature process reduced fabric damage, and only about 10% and 15% of the original tensile strength was missing after finishing and chlorination in both the warp and weft directions. Compared to the traditional pad–dry–cure technique, the process developed of antimicrobial cotton had some advantages such as low salt, energy savings, and maintaining tensile strength.

Due to the suboptimal efficiency, accuracy, and increasing costs of manual defect detection in the textile industry, online visual inspection for fabric defects has emerged as an essential and promising research area. However, challenges such as the lack of defective samples and issues with industrial deployment still persist. This paper presents a novel defect detection technique based on deep learning, which primarily comprises two frameworks. First, we design an improved generative adversarial network with an encoder–decoder architecture to address the paucity of requisite defective samples. We use defect-free samples as input to the generator, ensuring that the generated defect samples maintain a similar pattern. We mitigate the vanishing gradient problem using Wasserstein distance as the loss function. Second, we enhance the Single Shot MultiBox Detector network by introducing Inception modules and feature fusion to detect defects across different scales. The AdaBound optimizer is selected to update the model parameters. We compare the proposed approach with other methods on self-generated fabric data sets that are partially produced by our generative adversarial network model. An online defect detection system is proposed to capture fabric images and evaluation in a production environment. Experiments demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach, achieving 97.5% accuracy in real time, making it well-suited for application in the industry.

The low scouring efficiency of mercerized cotton yarns scoured with alkaline and acid pectinases, reported in previously published articles, raised the hypothesis of the lack of pectinase adsorption onto mercerized cotton. In an attempt to identify whether low pectinase adsorption occurs, the adsorption of alkaline and acid pectinases on raw and mercerized cotton yarns is measured using the Lowry protein assay, while laser-scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy is used to visually show the presence/absence of the enzymes on the surface of the cotton yarns. In addition, the surface zeta potential of the raw and mercerized cotton yarns is measured to identify the influence of the surface charge on the adsorption ability of the used enzymes. Data suggest that although used substrates have adsorbed more alkaline than acid pectinase, the adsorption of both enzymes is more intensive onto the mercerized cotton relative to raw cotton. The similar surface zeta potential of the raw and mercerized yarns indicates that higher enzyme adsorption on mercerized cotton is not influenced by the surface charge. Laser-scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy micrographs depict an evident increase of fluorescing signal with scouring time to raw and mercerized cotton yarn. The more intensive signals after 60 min of enzymatic scouring with both enzymes suggest enzyme presence on the yarn surface after a long treatment time. The obtained results confirm the enzyme retention on the yarn surface, thus excluding the hypothesis that the absence of enzyme adsorption is a factor for the low scouring efficiency of mercerized cotton yarns.

Despite the fact that textile waste is almost entirely recyclable, approximately 75% of it ends up in landfills worldwide. This has serious environmental and economic consequences. This review focuses on textile waste statistics, its contribution to pollution and recycling, as well as the benefits, barriers, types, and technologies of textile waste recycling. Textile production and textile waste generation have increased alarmingly as a result of fast fashion, which emphasizes low-cost production, frequent consumption, and short-term use of garments. This industry is distinguished by scarcity of resources, excessive consumption, and the generation of large amounts of waste. The frequency of consumer purchases is increasing, while the life span of clothing is drastically decreasing. Recycling does not occur as expected for a variety of reasons, so the environmental impact and economic losses from this waste grow over time. The textile industry currently contributes about 8% of the global carbon budget and 20% of industrial water pollution. Every year, $500 billion is lost to the system due to unused clothing and a lack of recycling. A paradigm shift is urgently required to implement an effective textile waste recycling system.

In this research, an industrially adaptable method is designed for antibacterial clothing. The essential oils of oregano and lavender were extracted using water vapor distillation, then they were spray-dried to form microcapsules. Comprehensive morphological analysis revealed the round shape of the microcapsules with smooth surfaces. The mean size of the optimum oregano and lavender microcapsules were 5.2 µm and 2.2 µm. The essential oils were detected in the polymeric matrix as peaks of microcapsules’ infrared spectra resembled both oils and polymer. Thermal analyses showed that encapsulation delays the degradation of the essential oil. The microcapsules were applied to six different fabrics used in sports and leisurewear by exhaustion. Scanning electron microscopy images indicated the existence of capsules after 10 washes. The antibacterial properties of cotton fabrics were assessed against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in terms of the oil and washings. The developed products can serve as a long-lasting, natural antibacterial alternative to other products on the market.

Knitted fabrics are widely used in smart textiles due to their great elasticity and reversibility, which make them good platforms for multifunctional fabrics, such as wearable strain sensors. In this study, a new method to make high strain-sensing knitted fabrics was proposed by coating the carbon nanotube solution first and then spraying the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) solution on 1 × 1 rib knitted fabric. The results showed that 0.1 wt% PEDOT:PSS/3 wt% carbon nanotube-coated knitted fabrics exhibited the best comprehensive performance. Their gauge factor reached 18.3 in the linear rising strain stage and showed excellent stability in cyclic stretching with a strain of 5%. Furthermore, the knitted fabric strain sensor exhibited a quick and precise response to the knee joint motion detection, demonstrating its potential in wearable applications.

In delayed-curing and non-iron finishing, the sensitized fabric after low-temperature drying should have good surface planeness before curing at high temperatures, which implies that the finishing agent has not reacted with the cellulose fibers during storage; therefore, a suitable non-iron finishing agent is essential for achieving the above objectives. Meanwhile, there are currently no mature and efficient evaluation methods for the storage stability of sensitized fabrics. In this article, the content of characteristic groups of the sensitized fabrics with different storage conditions was measured. The storage time can be shortened from 30 to 6 days with high-temperature storage (40–60°C). The reaction kinetics equation was established under high-temperature storage; then using this equation to predict the cross-linking degree of sensitized fabrics during long-term storage at low temperature, the storage stability of sensitized fabrics can also be evaluated. The relative error of 2.5% between the predicted value and the measured value of the reaction degree showed the accuracy and effectiveness of the established method. This article provided a basis for the stability evaluation of the sensitized fabric and the selection of the finishing agent, finishing process, and storage conditions for the delayed-curing and non-ironing finishing process.

Cigarette butts are one of the most discarded and littered items in the world, with a total amount of around 5.6 trillion, posing a grave threat to the environment and human health. This research seeks to recover cellulose acetate fibers from used cigarette filters and to evaluate the yarn-making capabilities of these fibers. The cigarette butts were gathered from various locations, and the fibers and coating were separated. The fibers were then treated with hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide to eliminate the burned color and odor. Acetone and distilled water were used to filter and distill the material properly. The color coordinates of the chemically altered fibers, including reflectance value and color strength, were measured afterward. To assess the chemical, thermal, physical, morphological, and mechanical characteristics of the modified cigarette butt filter fiber, atomic absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and tensile properties were examined. Significant and appealing findings were obtained for the mechanical parameters, particularly the tensile strength of 1.2 gm/den for a single fiber, the fiber density of 1.2 dtex, and the effective length of 25 mm, all of which indicate the fiber’s suitability for yarn production. In addition, FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the cigarette butt filter fiber possessed the same characteristics as commercial cellulose acetate fiber. The preliminary results obtained on the recovered cellulose acetate fiber are encouraging for the application of this recovery material from cigarette butts to create a high-demand and value-added product, such as yarn for garment production.

In this study, the fabrication – that is, weaving and softening of linen fabric – was accomplished by on-loom integrated finishing on a handloom using a special attachment. The optimization of the process parameters (finish liquor concentration, temperature and curing time) for these on-loom integrated softening finished fabrics were investigated. The softened linen fabric was studied for their physical properties like softness, drapeability, wickability, water vapour permeability, air permeability, total crease recovery angle, tensile and tear strength against untreated fabric and also compared with similar finished market sample. Furthermore, chemical interaction of the softener with linen fabric and their morphology were studied by the Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The results showed that as the concentration of the finish liquor increased, the softening effect increased, while wickability decreased after the particular optimum point. It was observed that drapeability, total crease recovery angle, tensile and tear strength were increased till the optimum point with the increase in process parameters. However, water vapour permeability and air permeability were decreased. The Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy studies clearly proved the presence of softener chemical and a coating of a thin layer on the fabric. The optimum process parameters of concentration of the finish liquor, curing temperature and curing time were found to be 10 g/L, 60°C and 5 min, respectively, for softening of linen fabric using this integrated finishing method.