See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/230716657

Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing

Article  in  Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology · June 2012

DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2012.4902 · Source: PubMed

CITATIONS READS
34 2,154

2 authors:

Franco Ferrero Monica Periolatto

Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Torino
104 PUBLICATIONS   2,541 CITATIONS    50 PUBLICATIONS   801 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

UV-curable coatings View project

Removal of dyes from wastewater View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Monica Periolatto on 19 October 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Copyright © 2012 American Scientific Publishers Journal of
All rights reserved Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Printed in the United States of America Vol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012

Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by

Chitosan UV-Curing
Franco Ferrero and Monica Periolatto∗
Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica,
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy

The purpose of this research work was to develop a textile finish based on the radical UV-curing
of chitosan on textiles to confer antimicrobial properties. Chitosan is a biopolymer with unique
properties such as biodegradability, non-toxicity, antimicrobial activity. In this work cotton or silk
fabrics and synthetic filter fabrics were impregnated with an acid solution of chitosan added of
the photoinitiator in the proper amount and cured at room temperature by exposure to UV lamp.
Delivered by Ingenta to:
Process conditions such as percentage add-on, dilution, chitosan-fabric contact time, irradiation
Franco Ferrero
time and power, were optimized. The antimicrobial activity of finished fabrics was tested according
IP
to ASTM E 2149-01 standard test performed : 130.192.19.127
with Escherichia Coli ATCC 8739. Moreover dyeing
test with Turquoise Telon dye were Wed, 08 Aug
carried 2012
out to 09:28:42
evaluate the treatment homogeneity while the
amino group content was determined by ninhydrin assay. Moreover on cotton and silk fabrics the
treatment fastness to domestic laundering was tested, according to UNI EN ISO105-C01. Obtained
results showed a strong antimicrobial activity conferred by the treatment, homogeneous on fabric
surface. It is evident already at low add-on, without affecting the hand properties of natural fabrics
and the filtration characteristics of the synthetic filter fabrics. Finally, washing fastness was better
for samples prepared with a better penetration of chitosan inside the fibers.

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Keywords: UV-Curing, Chitosan, Cotton, PA, PET.

1. INTRODUCTION
On textiles the presence of bacteria, gram positive and
negative, and fungi is common. Many of these microor-
ganisms are pathogens quite often related to nosocomial
infections. Therefore, the development of environmental
friendly processes for preparation of antimicrobial finished
textile products is encouraged.
Chemical finishes should provide two aspects of antimi-
crobial protection. The first is the protection of textile
user against pathogenic or odour causing microorgan-
ism; the second one is the protection of the textile itself
from damage caused by mould, mildew or rot produc-
ing microorganism, causing discoloration, disintegration
as well as emission of foul smells. Fibers involved in
these problems are both natural and synthetic. Industrial
textiles exposed to weather such as awnings, screens,
tents, tarpaulins, ropes but also home furnishing as car-
peting, shower curtains, mattress ticking and upholstery,
frequently need antimicrobial finishes. Moreover fabrics
and protective clothes used in hospitals, nursing homes,
schools, hotels and crowded public areas or textiles left
∗
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
wet between processing steps for long time can benefit
from antimicrobial finishing. Finally the use of antimi-
crobial finishes to prevent unpleasant odours in intimate
apparel, underwear, socks and athletic wear is an important
market need.
Among the antimicrobials for controlled release copper
naphtenate, copper-8-quinolinate, organo-mercury com-
pounds, tributyl tin oxide, dichlorophene, 3-iodopropynyl-
butyl carbamate, benzimidazole derivatives, salicylanilides
and alkylolamide salts of undecylenic acid and formalde-
hyde have been widely used in the past. Today, 2,4,4 -
trichloro-2 -hydroxydiphenyl ether, commonly known as
triclosan, quaternary ammonium salts and silver ions
are commonly used.1–3 Indeed, popular finishes, already
commercialised, bondable at fibre surfaces are based on
octadecylaminodimethyl trimethoxysilylpropyl ammonium
chloride or polyhexamethylene biguanide.4 5
However a general problem related to all these chemi-
cals is to find the balance between high biocide activity and
the requirements of safe handling, including non-toxicity
to humans at usual concentrations and environmental
demands. Consumers and their organizations have become
more aware of toxicological and environmental problems,
such as skin irritation, sensitising and allergic potential,

J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2012, Vol. 12, No. 6 1533-4880/2012/12/4803/008 doi:10.1166/jnn.2012.4902 4803

 Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing
biodegradability and bioaccumulation. In response to these
concerns, legislation increasingly restricts commerce, han-
dling, use and disposal of dangerous and potentially dan-
gerous substances. For these reasons the use of chitosan
as antimicrobial agent is taking great importance.
Chitosan, 2-amino-2deoxy-(1 → 4)--D-glucopyranan,
is a biopolymer with unique properties such as biodegrad-
ability, nontoxicity, antimicrobial activity. It is a carbohy-
drate polymer derived from the deacetylation of the chitin
component of the shells of crustacean, such as crab, shrimp
and cuttlefish.
Chitosan is considered to be both bacteriocidal and bac-
teriostatic although the exact action mechanism is not
fully understood. The most acceptable models describe
the interaction between positively charged chitosan amino
groups and negatively charged microbial cell membranes
due to electrostatic interactions. It promotes changes in
the properties of membrane walls permeability causing
internal osmotic imbalances. Consequently the growth of
Delivered by Ingenta
microorganisms is inhibited. Even the hydrolysis of the
Franco Ferrero
peptidoglycans in the microorganism wall occurs, lead-
IP : 130.192.19.127
ing to the leakage of intracellular constituents as proteins, (PET)
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:28:42 plasma treated and polyamide 6 (PA) with the fol-
nucleic acids and glucose. Another proposed mechanism is
the binding of chitosan with microbial DNA, which leads
to the inhibition of the mRNA and protein synthesis via
the penetration of chitosan into the nuclei of the microor-
ganism, reaching the plasma membrane. A third mecha-
nism is based on the excellent metal-binding capacity of
RESEARCH ARTICLE
chitosan due to the amine groups which are responsible
for the uptake of metal cations by chelation, suppression
of spore elements and binding to essential nutrients for
microbial growth.6
Our idea is the application of chitosan on textiles by
UV radical curing. There are no specific studies about it,
but the effect of exposure to UV light of chitosan films
or blends, forming macroradicals have been widely stud-
ied in the field of UV degradation of biopolymers.7 8 The
same radicals can be involved in the photopolymerization
process.9 10
Radiation processes have several commercial applica-
tions in the coating of metals, plastics, and glass, in print-
ing, wood finishing, film and plastic crosslinking and in
the fields of adhesives and electrical insulation. The advan-
tages of this technology are well known: energy savings
(low-temperature process), low environmental impact, sim-
ple, cheap, and small equipment, high treatment speed.
Despite these advantages, there have been few applica-
tions of radiation curing in the textile industry, such as
nonwoven fabric bonding, fabric coating and pigment
printing.11–13 In textile finishing processes, the conven-
tional thermal curing technique is still used, regardless of
energy consumption and costs. In UV curing, however,
radical or cationic species are generated by the interaction
of UV light with a suitable photoinitiator, which induces
the curing reaction of reactive monomers and oligomers
4804
Ferrero and Periolatto
at low temperature and quickly, with lower environmental
impact and lower process cost than thermal process.
If a monomer and initiator mixture is adsorbed onto the
fibers and subsequently UV-cured,14 the polymeric chains
can form inside the textile structure, which can also estab-
lish graft bonds, making the treatment solid and water-
resistant. Moreover, the interpenetration of components
and homogeneous distribution of monomers, even at a
low concentration, contribute to obtain textile materials
with modified surface properties without high add-on of
polymer.15
2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
2.1. Materials
The natural fiber fabrics treated were plain-weave pure
cotton (144 g/m2 ) previously washed but not subjected
to any finishing process and pure silk stockings knitted
to:
with degummed and purged Bombyx mori silk yarn, 20–22
decitex, four-ply. Synthetic filter fabrics were polyester
lowing characteristics: PET-150 (150 thread/cm, thread
diameter 34 m, 17% free surface), PET-49 (49 thread/cm,
thread diameter 70 m, 40% free surface), PA (180
thread/cm, thread diameter 30 m, 21% free surface).
Fabrics were finished with low viscous chitosan (Fluka)
radically cured by adding Darocur 1173 (Ciba Specialty
Chemicals) 2% wt as photoinitiator. Chitosan was dis-
solved, at 2% wt for fabric finishing and at 5% wt for film
deposition, in a 2% vol acetic acid aqueous solution.
Telon Turquoise M5-G 85%, C.I. Acid Blue 185
(DyStar), was used for dyeing tests.
2.2. UV curing
At first, chitosan was solubilised in the acetic acid solu-
tion, under magnetic stirring at ambient temperature for
24 h. For 5% wt solution, a previous ripening time of 12 h
without stirring, at ambient temperature, was necessary to
decrease viscosity. Then photoinitiator was added in the
proper amount, whose quantity (2% or 4% w/w) was deter-
mined suitable to produce by UV irradiation a solid and
dry chitosan film. Further steps were dilution, with water
or acetic acid solution, spreading of the mixture on the
fabrics with various impregnation times till to 12 h, dry-
ing for 10 min at 80  C–100  C and finally UV-curing for
30–60 sec, in inert atmosphere.
The surface coated fabrics were exposed to UV radia-
tion using a medium-pressure mercury lamp with a light
intensity on the fabric of about 20 mW/cm2 , in a small box
equipped with a quartz window under nitrogen atmosphere
(oxygen content under 20 ppm). The required radiation
dose was obtained adjusting the distance of textiles from
the lamp and the exposition time.
J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012
Ferrero and Periolatto
2.3. Weight Gain and Gel Content Evaluation
The weight gain of fabrics, that is the add-on of polymer,
was calculated as:
w − w0
Weight gain % = × 100 (1)
w0
where w is the weight of grafted fabric and w0 the weight
of the original fabric.
Chitosan solution is adsorbed by textiles, so the poly-
merized structure does not form a superficial coating but
penetrate inside the fibers. To test if chitosan was com-
pletely polymerized, gel content was measured. Generally
chloroform is used as solvent, but chitosan is insoluble in
it, thus it was determined on the cured fabrics by mea-
suring the weight loss after washing according to UNI-EN
ISO 105-C01 using ECE detergent, followed by drying in
oven at 90  C for 1 h. Gel content can be considered a
true polymerization yield, being the unpolymerized chi-
tosan removed by washing. Delivered by Ingenta
Franco Ferrero
2.4. Determination of Antimicrobial Activity IP : 130.192.19.127
Wed, 08 Aug 2012
Antimicrobial activity of chitosan finished fabrics, before
and after washing test, was determined according to
ASTM E2149-01 method. It is a standard test method
for determining the antimicrobial activity of immobilized
antimicrobial agents under dynamic contact conditions and
was performed using Escherichia Coli ATCC 8739 as
microbes, yeast extract Agar as nutrient and a Sorensen’s
phosphate buffer solution (pH 6.8), with 24 h contact time
at 37  C. The antimicrobial activity of a substrate-bound
antimicrobial is dependent upon direct contact of microbes
with the active chemical agent. This test determines the
antimicrobial activity of treated specimen by shaking sam-
ples of material (0.5–2 g) in a concentrated bacterial sus- on a personal computer with the aid of STAR software.
pension for the specified contact time. The suspension is
serially diluted both before and after contact and cultured. 2.10. FTIR-ATR Analysis
The number of viable organisms in the suspension is deter-
mined and the percent reduction is calculated based on
retrievals from appropriate untreated controls.
2.5. Treatment Fastness Determination
On fabrics finished with chitosan, treatment fastness to
domestic laundering with standard ECE detergent (UNI-EN
ISO 105-C01) was evaluated by considering the percent
microorganism reduction after 5 washing cycles.
2.6. Dyeing Tests on Chitosan Finished Fabrics
The chitosan presence and the treatment homogeneity
were tested by dyeing with the acid dye Telon Turquoise
M5-G. The dyeing process was carried out on untreated
and treated fabric, even after 5 domestic washing cycles,
according to fastness tests. Fabrics were dyed in 1% o.w.f.
J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012
Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing
(over weight fiber) dye solution, with liquor ratio 1:50,
adding acetic acid in the proper amount to provide a pH 4
dyeing solution.
2.7. Determination of Free Amino Groups
The ninhydrin assay16 was used in order to determine the
content of free amino groups in fabrics due to chitosan
after cross-linking. It is an important parameter, being
amino groups the responsible of chitosan antimicrobial
activity. The concentration of free NH2 groups in the sam-
ple was determined, by spectrophotometric measurements
at 570 nm, from a standard curve of glycine concentration
vs absorbance.
2.8. Surface Analysis
The surface morphology of the fabrics was examined by
SEM with a Leica (Cambridge, UK) Electron Optics 435
to: electron microscope with an acceleration
VP scanning
voltage of 15 kV, a current probe of 400 pA, and a work-
ing distance of 20 mm. The samples were mounted on
09:28:42
aluminum specimen stubs with double-sided adhesive tape
and sputter-coated with gold in rarefied argon using an
Emitech K550 Sputter Coater with a current of 20 mA
for 180 s.
2.9. DSC Analysis
RESEARCH ARTICLE
DSC analyses were carried out by a Mettler TA 3000
Calorimeter equipped with a Mod. 20 DSC cell. Samples
of about 5 mg of film or treated fabrics were sealed in the
standard aluminum pans of 40 l and submitted to DSC
analysis in the range from 50 to 400  C at the heating rate
of 10  C/min under nitrogen flux. The data were processed
FTIR-ATR analyses were performed on a Nicolet FTIR
5700 spectrophotometer equipped with a Smart Orbit ATR
single bounce accessory mounting a diamond crystal. Each
spectrum was collected on film or directly on treated sam-
ples by cumulating 128 scans, at 4 cm−1 resolution and
gain 8, in the wavelength range 4000–600 cm−1 .
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Weight Gain and Gel Content Evaluation
All the treated samples were prepared with a chitosan add-
on in the range between 0.5% and 5%: in this way fabrics
maintained their hand characteristics, very important in
particular for cotton, and filtration efficiency. It was eval-
uated that antimicrobial activity is evident yet at the lower
add-on.
4805
 Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing Ferrero and Periolatto

Table I. Average gel content values. Dispersion range ±2%. Table III. Antimicrobial activity of cotton fabrics UV-cured by chitosan
after washing test (5 cycles).
Add-on (%) Gel content (%)
Add-on Contact Microrganism
PET-150 50 93 Fabric (%) Dilution time reduction (%)
PET-49 08 100
PA 16 100 Cotton 25 Undiluted — 56
COTTON 50 92 Cotton 1 With water — 42
SILK 22 100 Cotton 15 With 2% acetic acid — 308
PET_150 1 With 2% acetic acid 3h 224
PA 15 With 2% acetic acid 3h 457
Even the dilution to improve the spreading homogeneity PET_49 15 With 2% acetic acid 12 h 969
resulted important, leading to more homogeneous proper- Cotton 3 With 2% acetic acid 12 h 972
ties on the fabric surface.
Gel content measurements on several fabric samples
probably due to a better penetration of chitosan inside the
are reported in Table I: very high average values were
fiber structure. In this case in fact the antimicrobial activity
found with a complete polymerization corresponding to the
lower add-on. It means that in this case the polymerization was completely retained.
occurs even inside the fabric texture with a consequent In order to reduce the required contact time, on silk
high yield of the process. fabrics some test were carried out with an impregnation
for lower time but at 50  C or sonicating. Results, reported
in graphic form in Figure 1, showed an impregnation for
3.2. Determination of Antimicrobial Activity Delivered by Ingenta
1 h at 50 to:

C as the best to maintain antibacterial properties
Franco
Antimicrobial activity test was led either on chitosan film
Ferrero
after washing, while revealed sonication uneffective.
IP : 130.192.19.127
and treated fabrics just after UV-curing. Both natural and
Wed,
synthetic filter fabrics were tested, with add-on 08 than
lower Aug 2012 09:28:42
3.4. Dyeing Tests on Chitosan Finished Fabrics
3%. Results in terms of microorganism reduction percent-
age are reported in Table II. Very high values were found The presence of chitosan on the treated fabrics was evi-
regardless chitosan dilution method, with total elimination denced by the enhancement of the color intensity as a
of microbial cells on the film and fabrics obtained from result of dyeing tests with the acid dye Telon Turquoise.
spreading undiluted chitosan acetic solution or on silk. Moreover the uniformity of coloration showed even the
It means that UV-curing does not compromise chitosan homogeneity of the treatment. For cotton and silk fab-
RESEARCH ARTICLE

antibacterial activity, maintained even at low add-on.
3.3. Treatment Fastness Determination
Chitosan treated fabrics, with different chitosan dilutions,
were submitted to 5 cycles of washing followed by antimi-
crobial activity test.
The results reported in Table III showed the importance
of dilution media and impregnation time on treatment fast-
ness. In fact antimicrobial activity was lost after wash-
ing in samples prepared with undiluted or water diluted
chitosan while was partially retained in the case of dilu-
tion with acetic acid solution. Best results were found
with acetic acid dilution of chitosan solution followed by
the spreading on fabric, with 12 h of impregnation time,
rics, the dyeing was carried out also on samples that gave
bad results of antimicrobial activity after the washing test,
in order to check the chitosan presence. As previously
reported,17 on cotton fabrics, even in this case the dyeing
result was good, indicating that chitosan was not substan-
tially lost with washings. Hence the loss in antibacterial
activity was probably due to a possible interaction between
chitosan and the anionic surfactant of the standard ECE
detergent, as supported by literature references.18
For what concerns silk fabrics, the different coloration
of treated fabrics after washing test indicated a partial

Table II. Antimicrobial activity test.

Dilution of 2% acetic Microrganism

Fabric solution of chitosan Add-on (%) reduction (%)

FILM — — 100
Cotton Undiluted 23 100
Cotton With water 11 993
Cotton With 2% acetic acid 15 969
Silk With 2% acetic acid 218 100
PA Undiluted 31 100
PET-49 With 2% acetic acid 13 867
PET-150 With 2% acetic acid 11 984
Fig. 1. Fastness test on silk fabrics. Influence of impregnation method.

4806 J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012

Ferrero and Periolatto Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing

Table IV. Average ninhydrin assay results. Dispersion range ±5%.

Free amino groups [10−3 mmol/g]

Washing
cycle Cotton 4.8% add-on Cotton 2.6% add-on

0 441 76
1 412 57
2 422 57
3 364 85
4 480 85
5 364 95

particles are deposited on fabrics fibers maintaining the

interfibral holes well open. Moreover, analyzing a treated
cotton it is shown that the polymer does not form a coat-
ing on the textile but it covers every single fiber without
Fig. 2. Dyeing test on silk fabrics. Untreated (a), treated with impregna- gluing them.
tion 1h@ ambient temperature (b), treated with impregnation 1h@ ambi- In Figure 4 images related to silk fabrics obtained with
ent temperature, washed (c), treated with impregnation 1 h@50  C (d), different impregnation methods are reported. The best dis-
treated with impregnation 1 h@50  C, washed (e), treated with impregna- tribution on fibers is observed on the sample prepared with
tion 1 h @ ambient temperature sonicated, (f), treated with impregnation
1 h impregnation
Delivered by Ingenta to: at 50  C, in accordance with fastness
1 h @ ambient temperature sonicated, washed (g).
results. The sample impregnated at ambient temperature
Franco Ferrero
presents an uneven distribution of chitosan on the fiber sur-
IP : 130.192.19.127
loss of chitosan from the same, responsible of the loss face,09:28:42
with agglomerates not adherent to silk, easily taken
Wed, 08 Aug 2012
of antibacterial activity. This effect is in fact more pro- away by the subsequent washing test. Finally, on sonicated
nounced in samples showing lower washing fastness, with sample is clear the damage of silk fibers, broken by the
even a change in the tone of coloration. Moreover samples treatment.
impregnated with sonication revealed an uneven coloration
indicating a fiber degradation.19
3.7. DSC Analysis

3.5. Determination of Free Amino Groups
Ninhydrin assay was performed on two cotton treated
samples, with different chitosan add-on, after each wash-
ing cycle. Results, reported in Table IV, show an higher
amount of free amino groups on the higher loaded sam-
ple, as expected. Moreover these amounts did not show
a significant decrease with washing cycle, confirming the
presence of about the same amount of chitosan onto the
fabrics after the washing test.
3.6. Surface Analysis
SEM analyses were performed in order to highlight the
chitosan distribution on the fabric surface. Images reported
in Figure 3 show, on filter fabrics, a good homoge-
neous distribution of chitosan on the fibers. Small chitosan
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Differential scanning calorimetry was used to character-
ize a chitosan film. The thermogram found, reported in
Figure 5, is quite comparable to those related to ther-
mally cured chitosan, reported in literature.20 It presents
an endothermic peak at 100  C that can be ascribed to
the loss of water while the second thermal event may be
related to the decomposition of amine (GlcN) units with
an exothermic peak at 295  C. Unfortunately this last peak
disappears analyzing treated fabrics, being completely hid-
den by the substrates decomposition peaks, so quantitative
considerations cannot be done.
3.8. FTIR-ATR Analysis
Chitosan film was analyzed by FTIR while fabrics
untreated and treated, before and after the washing test,
were analyzed by ATR spectroscopy.

Fig. 3. SEM analysis of chitosan treated samples. Cotton 3% add-on (a), PE-150 1% add-on (b), PA 1% add-on (c). Magnification ratio 1000×.

J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012 4807

 Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing Ferrero and Periolatto

Fig. 4. SEM analysis on treated silk by different impregnations. 1 h@ ambient temperature (a), 1 h@50  C (b), 1 h@ambient temperature, sonicated
(c). Magnification ratio 1500×.

Delivered by Ingenta to:

Franco Ferrero
IP : 130.192.19.127
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:28:42
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Fig. 5. DSC curve of chitosan film.

Fig. 6. FTIR chitosan film.

4808 J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012

Ferrero and Periolatto Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing

Fig. 7. ATR cotton fabric_comparison treated-untreated.

Delivered by Ingenta to:
Franco Ferrero
IP : 130.192.19.127
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:28:42

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Fig. 8. ATR PA fabric_comparison before-after washing test.

The spectrum found for the film (Figure 6) is in 4. CONCLUSIONS

agreement with those reported in literature related to the
thermally cured samples, with the typical bands at 3360
corresponding to OH group, at 3290 due to NH stretching,
at 1648 due to C O and at 1560 and 1075 due to NH
bending in amide group.21
Comparing ATR spectra of treated and untreated cotton
(Fig. 7) or synthetic fabrics (Fig. 8) the presence of chi-
tosan is revealed by its typical peaks shown only by treated
samples, while spectra of the same sample before and after
washing test are perfectly overlapping. This proved that
the treatment is unaffected by the washing.
On the contrary, on silk fabrics this analysis resulted
uneffective due to the presence, on silk, of the same amine
and amide groups also present on chitosan.
In conclusion we can say that chitosan UV-curing yielded
high antimicrobial properties on all considered fabrics as
confirmed by antimicrobial tests carried out also on chi-
tosan film. Moreover, low add-on, 1–3% o.w.f., are enough
to confer the desired property to the fabrics, so the hand
properties of cotton or silk and the filtration capacity of
synthetic fabrics are not compromised. In order to have a
good treatment fastness, chitosan has to be diluted with
acetic acid solution before spreading on fabrics and an
impregnation time of 12 h at ambient temperature or 1 h
at 50  C is necessary before the curing to ensure a good
penetration inside the fibers.
The homogeneous distribution of chitosan on fabrics
was confirmed by dyeing tests with an acid dye and by

J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012 4809

 Antimicrobial Finish of Textiles by Chitosan UV-Curing
SEM analysis that showed the optimal distribution of the
finish on single fiber surface, while the presence of amino
groups before and after the washing test, responsible of
the antimicrobial activity, was revealed by ninhydrin assay
and FTIR-ATR spectra.
Chitosan film was characterized by DSC and FTIR anal-
ysis. Data found are perfectly in agreement with literature
data related to thermally cured chitosan, meaning that UV
curing leads at the same polymer structure. Finally, on the
FTIR-ATR spectra of treated cotton or synthetic fabrics is
evident, in comparison with untreated samples, the pres-
ence of the typical bands of chitosan, showing its presence
again.
In conclusion, from these results, chitosan UV-curing
can be indicated as a valid environmental-friendly method
to confer a washing resistant antimicrobial activity to tex-
tile fabrics.
Acknowledgments: All synthetic filter fabrics were
Delivered by Ingenta
kindly supplied by SAATI Print (Appiano Gentile, Como,
Franco Ferrero
Italy).
IP : 130.192.19.127
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 Y.09:28:42
References and Notes
1. K. Chaloupka Y. Malam, and A. M. Seifalian, Trends Biotechnol.
28, 580 (2010).
2. B. J. Dair, D. M. Saylor, T. E. Cargal, G. R. French, K. M. Kennedy,
R. S. Casas, J. E. Guyer, J. A. Warren, C. Kim, and S. K. Pollack,
J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 10, 8456 (2010).
RESEARCH ARTICLE
4810
View publication stats
Ferrero and Periolatto
3. C. Zhu, J. Xue, and J. He, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 9, 3067 (2009).
4. W. D. Schindler and J. P Hauser, Chemical finishing of textiles,
Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, (2004), p. 165.
5. D. Alonso, M. Gimeno, R. Olayo, H. Vázquez-Torres, J. D.
Sepúlveda-Sánchez, and K. Shirai, Carbohydr. Polym. 77, 536 (2009).
6. R. C. Goy, D. de Britto, and B. G. Assis, Polimeros:Ciencia e Tec-
nologia 19, 241 (2009).
7. A. Sionkowska, M. Wisniewski, J. Skopinska, S. Vicini, and
E. Marsano, Polym. Degrad. Stab. 88, 261 (2005).
8. S. Saiki, N. Nagasawa, A. Hiroki, N. Morishita, M. Tamada,
Y. Muroya, H. Kudo, and Y. Katsumura, Radiat. Phys. Chem. 79,
276 (2010).
9. R. Alam, M. A. Khan, R. A. Khan, S. Ghoshal, and M. Mondal,
J. Polym. Environ. 16, 213 (2008).
10. M. A. Khan, S. Ferdous, and A. I. Mustafa, J. Polym. Environ.
13, 193 (2005).
11. W. K. Walsh and W. Oraby, Handbook of Fiber Science and Technol-
ogy, edited by M. Lewin, and S. B. Sello, Marcel Dekker, New York
(1984), Vol. 2, Part B, Chap. 6.
12. E. Krijnen, M. Marsman, and R. Holweg, J Coat Fabrics 24, 152
(1994).
13. A. De Raeve, Unitex 5, 20 (2004).
14. E. Princi, S. Vicini, E. Pedemonte, G. Gentile, M. Cocca, and
to: Eur. Polym. J. 42, 51 (2006).
E. Martuscelli,
15. F. Ferrero, M. Periolatto, M. Sangermano, and M. Bianchetto Songia,
J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 107, 810 (2008).
16. Yuan, Carbohydr. Polym. 68, 561 (2007).
17. F. Ferrero and M. Periolatto, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 11, 8663
(2011).
18. S. H. Lim and S. M. Hudson, Carbohydr. Polym. 56, 227 (2004).
19. H. Liu, Carbohydr. Polym. 64, 553 (2006).
20. L. Simionatto Guinesi and E. Cavalheiro, Thermochim. Acta
444, 128 (2006).
21. A. Sionkowska, H. Kaczmarek, M. Wisniewski, J. Skopinska,
S. Lazare, and V. Tokarev, Surf. Sci. 600, 3775 (2006).
Received: 1 December 2010. Accepted: 1 May 2011.
J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 12, 4803–4810, 2012