The growth of microbes on textiles during use and storage negatively affects the wearer as well as the textile itself. The detrimental effects can be controlled by durable antimicrobial finishing of the textile using broad-spectrum biocides or by incorporating the biocide into synthetic fibers during extrusion. Consumers' attitude towards hygiene and active lifestyle has created a rapidly increasing market for antimicrobial textiles, which in turn has stimulated intensive research and development. This article reviews the requirements for antimicrobial finishing, qualitative and quantitative evaluations of antimicrobial efficacy, the application methods of antimicrobial agents and some of the most recent developments in antimicrobial treatments of textiles using various active agents such as silver, quaternary ammonium salts, polyhexamethylene biguanide, triclosan, chitosan, dyes and regenerable N-halamine compounds and peroxyacids. Examples of commercial antimicrobial products are presented to illustrate...

Recent Advances in Antimicrobial Treatments of Textiles

Chitin is the world's second most abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide. Much of this is disposed of as waste from seafood crustacean, mainly in shrimps, prawns, crabs, and lobsters, where it occurs as a significant component in the shells/exoskeletons of crustacea. Due to its widespread abundance, its chemical and physical versatility, and the problems of its disposal as a waste material, a wide range of value-added applications of chitin and chitosan is being initiated, investigated, and developed. The widely ranging value-added applications of chitin and chitosan are presented in this review. Chitin and its derivative, chitosan, both highly stable and difficult to degrade materials, can be obtained as 10–20% w/w from the waste seafood shells by suitable chemical processing. One of the significant developments in the new range of applications is the study of the ability of chitosan, as a potentially major environmental treatment material, to remove metal ions from wastewaters. Chitosan is the deac...

Application of Chitosan for the Removal of Metals From Wastewaters by Adsorption—Mechanisms and Models Review

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of a water-soluble chitosan derivative with a fiber-reactive group.

There is a greater demand for antimicrobial finishes on textile goods because consumers have become aware of the potential advantages of these materials. A number of other chemicals are also used i...

Review of Chitosan and Its Derivatives as Antimicrobial Agents and Their Uses as Textile Chemicals

The antimicrobial activity of cotton fabrics treated with different crosslinking agents and chitosan

Citric acid (cA) and chitosan are used as durable press and antimicrobial finishing agents for cotton, and are applied by means of the conventional pad-dry-cure process. CA is expected to react wit...

Kwang-Keun Lee

Papers

Durable Press and Antimicrobial Finishing of Cotton Fabrics with a Citric Acid and Chitosan Treatment