Concurrent antibacterial finishing and transfer printing of different types of fabrics

Abstract

The growth of microbes on textiles inflicts a range of unpleasant effects not only on thetextile itself but also on the wearer. The detrimental effects can be controlled by antimicrobial finishing of textile using Sanitized T99-19 in the finishing formulation andsimulated curing/transfer printing in one step for different types of fabrics. Improvements of multifunctional property vary, to some extent with the nature of fibrous substrates, resin concentration, simultaneous curing/transfer printing, temperature employed, and various additives in the finishing formulation used to affect the polymerization of the reactant. Optimized resin concentrations as well as transfer printing temperatures to enhance the properties of the finished fabrics were reported. Quantitative analysis was carried out to measure antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The results showed that printed fabrics inhibited the growth of both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) bacteria compared with control samples (without Sanitized T99-19). Improvement of color strength as well crease recovery angle was obtained. Antibacterial activity was retained up to 20 cycles. Scanning electron microscopy of finished fabrics was performed. © The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.