Control Cotton Fabric Research Articles

Anchoring of Monochlorotriazinyl-β-cyclodextrin onto Cotton Fabrics and Use of its Inclusion Ability to Impart Durable Antimicrobial Activity

Glycidyl methacrylate/monochlorotriazinyl-β-cyclodextrin mixture (GMA/MCT-β-CD) is grafted onto cotton fabric by an irradiation technique that uses linear electron beam radiation for initiating the grafting reaction. The obtained grafted fabric (cell-g-GMA/MCT-β-CD) is loaded with chlorohexidin diacetate (an antimicrobial agent) and subjected to several washing cycles. Grafted cotton fabrics (before and after loading with the antimicrobial agent) and control cotton fabrics are characterized for antimicrobial activity against different kinds of bacteria and fungi by using the diffusion disk method. Grafted fabrics that are loaded with an antimicrobial agent show very good antimicrobial activity in comparison with control and grafted fabrics which are not loaded with an antimicrobial agent. The results in this study also demonstrate that GMA/MCT-β-CD grafted fabrics that are loaded with an antimicrobial agent retain a good deal of their antimicrobial activity after five washings. Good retention of antimicrobial activity is due to the cavities that are present in the cyclodextrin moieties which are used to host and keep the antimicrobial agent.

Polyacrylamide Based Breathable Coating for Cotton Fabric

Breathable coatings based on polyacrylamide on cotton fabrics have been developed. The coatings show high water vapor permeability, while providing desirable protection against air and liquid water-penetration. These polyacrylamide based coatings were obtained by coating the fabric with polyacrylamide solution (4%), containing citric acid as a crosslinker (5–50 mol%), and sodium hypophosphite (0.3%) as a catalyst, followed by drying at 90 C and curing at 150 C. The curing reaction leads to formation of crosslinks among the polymer chains as well as between the polymer and the cotton fabric. The integrity of the crosslinked polyacrylamide coating was observed to be good. The resistance, to hydrostatic head for double and triple-coated samples, with cross-linker concentration of 50 and 20 mol% was found to be in the range of 800–1280 mm, while the air-permeability values reduced drastically by two orders of magnitude, compared to the control fabric. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) values for these samples were found to be excellent with only 5–23% reduction compared to the values shown by control cotton fabric. The mechanism of the reaction leading to the formation of crosslinks has been evaluated using FTIR and NMR spectroscopy.

Influence of Bleaching Operations on the Properties of Control and DMEU-Finished Cotton Fabrics

Two-mercerized-scoured (MS) cotton fabrics ( viz. J-box scoured poplin and pressure-scoured drill) were bleached with sodium hypochlorite (HC), hydrogen peroxide (BP), and sodium chlorite (SC) in the laboratory to a CuAm duiditv of 4.5 ± 0.5 poises-1 for poplin and 5 ± 0.5 poises-1 for the drill. They were further finished in the laboratory with 30-150 g/l. DMEU by the pad-dry-cure technique. Evaluation of these fabrics for resilience and strength-abrasion properties have shown that chlorite bleaching gives good strength-abrasion properties on both the unfinished fabrics. On DMEU finishing, hypochlorite-bleached fabric gives best performance on both the fabrics. The gradation in overall performance of DMEU-finished poplin samples is HC > BP > SC > MS. Similar gradation for the drill fabric is HC > MS > SC > BP.