TITLE:
Preparation of Durable Antibacterial Polyester Fabrics by Grafting with the Natural Quaternary Ammonium Compound Betaine
AUTHORS:
Md Shariful Islam, Md Kamrul Hasan, Arifur Rahman, Shakhauat Hossen, Md Anwarul Islam Sachi, Xinbo Ding
KEYWORDS:
Polyester Fabric, Betaine, Antibacterial, Durability, Capillary
JOURNAL NAME:
Materials Sciences and Applications,
Vol.15 No.9,
September
24,
2024
ABSTRACT: Recently, the textile industry has increasingly advocated for natural resource-based healthcare textiles. This research presents a facile and eco-friendly approach to developing durable antibacterial polyester fabrics. Polyester fabric was first subjected to an alkaline hydrolysis to impart hydroxyl groups on the fiber surface. A natural antibacterial agent, betaine, was then covalently bonded to the hydrolyzed polyester fiber surface through esterification. XPS, Raman, SEM, and Wicking measurements were carried out to verify the esterification reaction. Antibacterial tests confirmed that betaine treatment grafted polyester fabrics revealed a remarkable antibacterial effect with inhibition rates > 99.9% against both E. coli and S. aureus and still remained inhibition rates of up to 91.5% against both bacteria after home washing for 20 cycles. Moreover, the modification significantly increased the capillary effect of polyester fabric but did not cause apparent adverse effects on the fabric’s hand or tensile strength. Overall, this grafting strategy for durable, antibacterial polyester fabric represents a significant practicality in the textile industry.