Concurrent antibacterial finishing and transfer printing of different types of fabrics

The growth of microbes on textiles inflicts a range of unpleasant effects not only on the textile 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 and simulated 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, tempera- ture employed, and various additives in the finishing formulation used to affect the polymerization of the reactant. Optimized resin concentrations as well as transfer print- ing 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.