Development of antimicrobial cotton fabric using bionanocomposites

In order to provide antimicrobial activity to cotton, cotton fabrics were treated by montmorillonite (KSF), montmorillonite–dihydroxy ethylene urea (KSF–MDEU), KSF–chitosan (CS) and KSF–CS–MDEU solutions containing 12.5, 25 and 50 ppm silver ion. The effect of modification on the antibacterial activity of cotton fabrics was also evaluated after 10 cycles of washings. MDEU exhibited better antimicrobial activities after washing process. By using 25 ppm silver, KSF and CS modification solution, good performance in terms of antibacterial activity was obtained. The addition of CS and MDEU increased the whiteness index values of cotton fabrics treated with KSF containing different silver concentrations. The characterization of modified cotton samples was done by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis.