Antimicrobial finish on textiles using plant extracts
Various natural anti-microbial agents for application on textiles have been explored in this article.
The plant extract treated fabrics were subjected to the antimicrobial activity test against the E-coli and S.aureus bacteria and also the finished samples have been analyzed for their durability of the finish by standard methods. There were no bacteria found on the surface of the treated fabrics and shows an appreciable zone of inhibition against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The combinatorial plant extracts show a very good zone of inhibition when compared to individually treated fabrics. The treated fabrics also have greater durability. The finish which is applied to the fabric did not affect any physical properties of the fabric. Since these plants are extensively available in the market, the opportunity for implementing this antimicrobial finish in the textile industry is high.
Combinations
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Pomegranate + Onion
The peel of onion and pomegranate was collected. The collected plants were shadow dried and crushed for extraction. The 10 gm powder of selected plants is soaked in 100 ml of distilled water in round bottom flask for overnight. The extraction was done by soxhlet extraction method and the extract was evaporated and concentrated using the rotary evaporator at 500C.
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Neem + Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera gel was extracted by removing the outer layers of leaves. The gel was smashed for 90 minutes and then filtered. The Neem leaves were collected and dried. It was ground to fine powder by grinding. Then, the methanolic extraction was carried out and the extract was collected. The bleached samples were treated with 5, 7 and 10% concentrations of the aloe gel and Neem extract separately. The same samples were treated with combined aloe gel and Neem extracts of 5, 7 and 10% concentration at 800C for 30 minutes. It was dried at 800C for 15 minutes.
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Tulsi + Turmeric + Neem
1g powder of each plant was taken and was added to the distilled water. Also, 1% of chloroform is added to each in the distilled bath and allowed to dissolve for 24 hours. The solution was then filtered using a filter paper and filtrate was obtained. The extract was applied to the fabric by the pad-dry-cure method at MLR 1:20.
CONCLUSION
The plant extract treated fabrics were subjected to the antimicrobial activity test against the E-coli and S.aureus bacteria and also the finished samples have been analyzed for their durability of the finish by standard methods. There were no bacteria found on the surface of the treated fabrics and shows an appreciable zone of inhibition against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The combinatorial plant extracts show a very good zone of inhibition when compared to individually treated fabrics. The treated fabrics also have greater durability. The finish which is applied to the fabric did not affect any physical properties of the fabric. Since these plants are extensively available in the market, the opportunity for implementing this antimicrobial finish in the textile industry is high.
Credits:
Subrata Das, Abarrna Devi R, and Akshaya N
Department of Fashion Technology, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
Sathyamangalam, Erode District, Tamil Nadu 638401 India.