Developing Antibacterial Cotton Fabric with Zinc Borate Impregnation Process

Cotton fabric is a commonly used textile because of its natural and healthy properties. The chemical structure of cotton consists cellulose with a ratio of over 90 %. Cellulose is a natural polymer and cotton fabric is a quiet useful textile because of its better moisture absorption, softness, and easy care properties. Moisture absorbtion property comes from the cellulosic structure of the fabric. However, its features such as being hydrophilic and inclinable to bacterial growth limits its application areas. Antibacterial cotton fabric may be used for hospital textiles such as hospital gowns, patient clothes, wound bandages; food packaging and storage textiles; home textiles like curtain, bed cover; clothing, etc. In this study, a novel environmentally friendly antibacterial cotton fabric was developed. Flame retardant zinc borate was used as antibacterial agent. For this purpose, zinc borate with a formula of ZnO·3B2O3·7H2O had been synthesized with wet chemical precipitation method and cotton fabric was treated with this material via sol-gel impregnation method. The impregnation method for cotton fabric provided a uniform distribution of zinc borate particles and processing the entire volume of the fiber. This method is also suitable for large quantity production processes. In the microbiological studies, Enterococcus which is commonly associated with the nosocomial infections and food spoilage was used. As a result, the antibacterial activity was observed in the fabrics treated with 0.1 mol·l−1 and 0.2 mol·l−1 concentration of zinc borate solutions.